


Yet Another SU Human AU

by ValkerieRupert



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Abusive Jasper/Lapis Lazuli (Steven Universe), Adoption, Alternate Universe - Human, Autism, Autism Spectrum, Autistic Pearl (Steven Universe), Bullying, Foster Care, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Lapis Lazuli Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Major Character Injury, Menstruation, Miscarriage, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV First Person, Past Jasper/Lapis Lazuli (Steven Universe) - Freeform, Racism, Stillbirth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-07-12 10:12:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 46,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15993068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValkerieRupert/pseuds/ValkerieRupert
Summary: Once upon a time, there was an author named ValkerieRupert, who could have probably written an actual book by now if she wasn't wasting her life on crappy fanfic. One day, she said to herself, "Hmm, there are a lot of SU human AUs, but most of them change a lot of the canon. What if there was an SU human AU fanfic that changed nothing except making the characters humans, and showed off the dark and gritty stuff that happens when you translate this stuff directly into human terms?""But ValkerieRupert!" cried the fans. "The entire point of an AU is that it is different to canon! If you want it to be close to canon, why are you even making an AU?""That's a good question," she answered, and then proceeded to make this crappy fic, in which she claims she will translate every episode of SU into her human AU but, let's face it, she's never going to get around to that.





	1. Bubble Buddies

**Author's Note:**

> Like the summary says, this is my human interpretation of SU. I plan to make a chapter for each episode that I like in no particular order, but considering my past history with finishing things, if I can achieve that then I will film myself reading "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" in a terrible Italian accent wearing a horse's head.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven sees a girl at the beach and tries to impress her with his ~funky flow~

"Oh! Woooh-"  
"Hey look!" Amethyst said, grinning. "Steven's got a bike! Where ya going, Steven?"  
"Just out for a ride."  
Pearl raised an eyebrow. "In the sand?"  
"Yup!"  
Steven grinned, getting on his bike and trying, with little success, to ride it on the sandy beach. Trying not to show that he was out of breath and struggling to get the bike moving at all, he looked up at the girl sitting against the rocks.  
She was a young dark-skinned girl, with dark brown hair and onyx eyes hidden by her maroon glasses. She was wearing a light green and white dress and yellow socks with orange boots. She didn't even seem to notice Steven, she was so engrossed in the book she was reading.  
Steven parked his bike in front of her. "Some smooth ride..."  
He checked to see if Connie was paying attention.  
She wasn't.  
"Five speeds, hand brakes, electric blue finish with a tiger bell!"  
He rung the bell. Connie flipped the page of her book, still not noticing him.  
"I bet there are a lot of kids who'd love to ride this bi- Wooah!"  
He fell off his bike.  
That was when she started to notice.

"Whaddup?"  
Pearl gave him a look. "Who were you talking to?"  
"Huh?" asked Steven, feigning confusion.  
"That girl." said Garnet.  
"You saw?" he asked, blushing. "She's just a girl I know, except she doesn't know me. I've seen her at school, but we never talked."  
Amethyst gasped. "You like her!"  
"Uhh... I like everyone..."  
"Let's set up a play-date!" declared Pearl. "I'll write up an invitation and work out a schedule. Ohh! We'll have to find out her favorite kind of tea..."  
"No." Garnet said. "Just talk to her."  
Steven rolled his eyes. "Okay. But you guys can't watch this time! It'll mess up my funky flow."  
"Funky flow?"  
"We won't watch." promised Garnet.  
"Alright!" yelled Steven. He quickly ran to the fridge and took out a small, orange-red glowing bracelet.  
"What's that?" asked Amethyst.  
"Nothing!" he answered quickly as he ran outside.

"Hi! My name is Steven."  
He kept his eyes firmly on the ground as he walked over to the girl, rehearsing exactly what he would say to her. He didn't dare look up for fear that she would be looking at him funny, or judging him for his awkwardness; if she did already think he was weird, then he didn't want to know.  
"Hi, my name is Ste-ven. Hi my name is..."  
"Loser!"   
He turned sharply to see a tall, pale brown-haired teenager wearing a brown shirt and blue denim jeans sneering at the girl. The girl didn't seem to notice; maybe she was good at ignoring people, or maybe she was just very busy reading. The boy rolled his eyes at her lack of notice, grabbing a rock off the floor of the beach and throwing it  
Now, there are many things you can say as you defend a girl you don't know from a bully, such as 'Hey, leave her alone!' or 'Go pick on someone your own size!'  
Or, alternatively, like Steven did, you could run over and deflect the rock away with your hand while pathetically yelling, "Hi, my name is Steven!"  
The rock fell to the ground a few inches away from his foot, and he picked it up, hurling it as hard as he could. It hit the bully in the face, and he glared, walking off.  
"Whoa! How did I do that?" He turned to the girl. "Hi, my name is Steven!"  
The girl stared at him, adjusting her glasses as she stood up. "Connie. What happened?"  
"He threw a rock at you."  
"And you threw it back?"  
"Yeah. My mom's friend Garnet told me that if I saw anyone bullying people, I should throw stuff at them. She used to get into fights all the time."  
"Oh! That's kinda like my dad. He's a cop. Well... more like a private security guard."  
They looked at each other, then at the place where the boy had been. He was already on his way back after having the rock thrown at him.  
"He uh... doesn't seem to wanna go away."  
Connie looked down sadly. "Oh."  
"So... I don't see you around that often."  
"My dad works for a bunch of different beaches," she explained. "so we're never in the same place long."  
"I go on adventures with my family sometimes. They usually say it's too dangerous for me though."  
"Do you always stand up to bullies?"  
"No, this is new. I don't know how to get him to leave. But it's okay! My family will know what to do. Come on, follow me."  
He started to walk up the hill to his house, but before they could get far, they noticed the boy following them.  
Connie bit her lip. "Maybe we shouldn't go to your house. We don't want creeps like that knowing where you live. Just call your parents and ask them to come."  
"Okay, just let me get my phone..." He felt around in the pockets of his jeans. "Aww, damn, I think I left it at home!"  
She sighed. "Okay, just yell out. They're close by, right?"  
"Okay." He raised his voice. "Hey guys! Garnet! Help!"  
"I don't think they can hear you."  
He facepalmed. "Aaaww... That's right. I told them not to watch."  
"We can just wait here until they come out."  
"No, no, no, it's okay! I've got other friends that can help."

"BWAHAHAH!" he laughed. "Way to go, Steven! Is this your new girlfriend or something? Did you defend her because you're in looove?"  
"That's Lars," explained Steven. "We're basically BFFs."  
"He makes weird faces," said Connie  
"Lars, quit being a jerk and help!" yelled a short blonde woman.  
"What? I'm helping Steven on his date."  
"You're embarrassing him!"  
"No, I'm not!"  
"Yes, you are!"  
"He and Sadie run the Big Donut," explained Steven.  
"Do... they get along?"  
They continued arguing.  
"They're crazy about each other."  
Sadie sighed, staring at the boy in the distance. "I'm gonna go try something else!"  
"Anyway," continued Steven. "this place has the best doughnuts! I come here, like, every day!"  
"My parents don't let me eat doughnuts. They have trans fats."  
Steven gasped. "Whaaaaatttt?!?!?! Your parents are transphobic?!?!?!"  
"What? No!"  
Sadie came out of the Big Donut, holding a stool. She positioned to throw it at the boy when Steven quickly took it out of her hands. "I have a better idea."

"So, how exactly is this going to work?"  
Steven grinned. "Duh! We'll swim into the ocean, and he'll leave us alone because he can't swim!"  
Connie rolled her eyes. "Steven, I can't swim."  
"Oh, that's okay, we'll just get on a boat. See, there's a wooden boat over there. I'm sure nobody will mind if we borrow it."  
"Steven, we are not sailing out into the ocean on our own with someone else's boat that we don't know how to steer to avoid some stupid kid."  
Five minutes later they were sailing out into the ocean with someone else's boat that they don't even know how to steer to avoid some stupid kid.  
"See?" he said once they were far enough away that the boy couldn't see them. "He's gone! I knew it was a good idea!"  
"But we don't know how to get back!" protested Connie  
"Du-uh! We'll just wait for the wind to take us back! It'll be fine!"  
"Steven, that could take ages!"  
"Okay, then, we can just throw all our weight against this side of the boat and it'll go back! See, like this!"  
He grabbed Connie's wrist and violently pulled her as he ran to the side of the boat, slamming their bodies against the side. Not only did this fail to change the direction of the boat, it also resulted in them both falling over.  
"Ughhh..." groaned Steven. Opening his eyes, he realized his foot was on Connie's face, and quickly moved his leg away. "Oh, sorry! Are you alright?"   
Connie stood up silently.  
"It's not so bad, uhhh. It-it's okay, I uh..."  
"It's NOT okay!" yelled Connie. "You keep saying that but YOU don't know what you're doing! Now we're going to starve in the middle of the ocean and only my parents will notice because no one else--" tears started to form in her eyes-- "cares about me!"  
"Huh?"  
"I'm gonna disappear without ever making a single friend." Tears fell from her eyes, and she sat down against the wall of the boat, crying.  
Steven crouched down beside her, taking the orange-red glowing bracelet out of his pocket. "We can be friends. I saw you at the Boardwalk Parade last year. You dropped your bracelet. I picked it up, but then I couldn't find you. I saved it in the freezer so it would last longer, in case I got to talk to you again."  
"Oh! You were the kid on the car wash float." She chuckled at the memory. "You had soap bubbles in your hair."  
He laughed, blushing. "I was supposed to be a scrub brush. I'm sorry Connie," he said, placing the bracelet on her wrist. "if I had returned your bracelet back then, or at school, you wouldn't be stuck in this boat with me now."  
Connie blushed. "No, it's okay. We just need to work on finding a way back to shore..."  
They heard something splashing behind them, then gasping for breath, and then a voice:  
"Steven, we leave you unsupervised for half an hour so you can talk to a girl without us messing up your funky flow, and you end up in a boat in the middle of nowhere."  
They looked down to see a dark-skinned woman with a vaguely square-shaped afro and sunglasses that had somehow stayed on her head while she was swimming.  
"Garnet!" yelled Steven. "How did you swim all the way out here?"  
"With great difficulty." she answered. "Come on, you two, I'll help you get back."  
Connie stared. "Is she your mom?"  
Steven shrugged. "Kinda?"

"Is she your sister?"   
Steven stared at Connie and Amethyst. "Maybe?" he answered.  
Connie pointed to Pearl. "What about her, is she your mom?"  
He groaned in exasperation. "I don't even know!"  
"So," asked Amethyst. "are you going to introduce us?"  
Pearl nodded, turning to Connie. "Steven was so excited to meet you. Right, Steven?"  
Steven blushed, laughing nervously.  
"Hey!" snapped Garnet, grabbing Amethyst and Pearl by the shoulders. "Don't mess with his funky flow." she ordered as she pushed them out of the room.  
Connie raised an eyebrow. "Funky... flow?"  
"Uhh..."  
He laughed nervously, then groaned.


	2. Giant Woman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amethyst and Pearl get into an argument about why their old friend Opal never comes over, so Steven decides to contact Opal and find out for sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I knew I had to do this episode soon because if I did it after Jailbreak (which involves some fusions being the child of the components) then people would start to think Opal was Amethyst and Pearl's kid. Just...no. I'm okay with that in other human AUs, but my human interpretation is that Pearl is an adult and Amethyst is a teenager, so I really don't want them having kids. Besides, I wanted to show that fusions aren't always gem sex.

"Ha, take that!"  
Pearl frowned. "Wow, Amethyst, I'm impressed." She was about to give another compliment when she felt something hitting her, and before she knew what was happening the water balloon had exploded onto her.  
"Now it's your move, Pearl."  
Pearl was a tall, thin olive-skinned woman, with bright blue eyes and short strawberry blonde hair that would be in her face all the time were it not for the headband she wore, which had an ovular white gemstone embedded perfectly in the middle. She was wearing a teal dress which had a yellow star on it, and matching shoes with green socks.  
She sighed. "Steven, are the water balloons really necessary?"  
She looked up to see a young light-skinned boy atop a lifeguard chair, with curly black hair and a salmon pink shirt with a yellow star on it. "Yeah, this way the moves really matter.  
"But it's checkers! Every single move matters."  
Amy, or Amethyst as she preferred to be called twirled a strand of dark hair around her finger. "It sounds like someone's being a sore loser.  
Pearl glared. "I'm not a sore loser," she said, moving her piece across the board, "because I just won the game.  
Amethyst gasped.  
"Whaaa—?!!" she stuttered. Then she looked up and realized she was about to be pelted by water balloons. Normally she would automatically try to duck, or cover her head, or something, but right now she was in front of Pearl, and she was determined to show that she could handle it, so she just held out her arms and waited. "Here it comes!"   
She sighed in pleasure as she felt the water hitting her dark skin, seeping into her long, messy dark brown hair and starting to make the purple and white dye fade, soaking her grey tank top and black pants. The black strap of her sports bra was falling down her shoulder, the purple gem in her necklace covered in droplets.  
Pearl stood up. "Ahem, I certainly hope that you're going to help clean up all this water."  
Amethyst pouted. "Ugh, you're no fun anymore. This is why Opal never comes over anymore."  
Pearl glared. "Opal doesn't come over because you're difficult and a mess."  
Amethyst glared back. "Opal doesn't come over. because you're uptight and—"  
"Guys! Guys!"  
Steven quickly jumped between the two before another argument could break out. Once they had calmed down, he finally asked the question that had been burning in his mind since he had first heard her name:  
"Who is Opal?"  
"Oh, she's just one of Garnet's friends," explained Amethyst.  
"Cool! What's she like?"  
"Well, Steven, she's an ultra powerful, stone cold Betty. And she's like, kinda tall. Like, seven feet or something."  
"Wow, can you do it right now? Come on, call Opal!"  
Amethyst scoffed.  
Pearl frowned. "Opal only comes when its absolutely necessary.  
Steven grinned. "Garnet's back!"

"Ooh! Ooh! Did you bring me anything?"  
Garnet remained silent, but presented a small pebble to the child. Stars lit up in his eyes.  
"Whoa, a rock! Thanks, Garnet."  
Pearl smiled. "So, how'd it go?"  
"It went well. Now, we'd better split up. Someone has to go and meet up with Alex and Sugi, and someone else has to babysit Steven."  
Amethyst turned up her nose. "Well, I'm going with not Pearl."   
Steven started nervously biting his rock.  
Pearl glared. "Well, that's perfect because I don't want to go with grammatically incorrect people anyway."  
Steven briefly took the rock out of his mouth. "Is her talking about me?"  
Garnet sighed. "You three go together, I go alone."  
"What?" yelped Pearl and Amethyst at the same time. "Why?"  
"You two need to learn to work together and stop arguing. Alex might be coming over soon, and it makes guests uncomfortable when you two fight."  
The two glared at each other. Garnet flashed Steven a look of sympathy before she walked out the door. "Steven, be sure to keep the harmony."  
"No problem," said Steven.  
It was a problem.  
Only two things stayed consistent while Garnet was gone: That Pearl and Amethyst were fighting, and that Steven would not shut up about Opal.  
"Wait, if she's seven feet tall, doesn't that mean she technicaly qualifies as a giant? She's a giant woman! You should call her and get her to come over so I can see a real giant woman!"  
Pearl sighed. "Steven, Opal used to come over all the time, up until you were around two. But for some reason, whenever we invite her over now, unless it's just her and Garnet, she always seems to conveniently be busy."  
"She's not busy when it's just me and Garnet," gloated Amethyst. "I bet it's because she thinks Pearl never shuts up. Or maybe it's because of that tantrum you had the last time-"  
"That was not a tantrum, that was an autistic meltdown and it was completely out of my control!" snapped Pearl. "Besides, Opal still enjoys hanging out with Garnet and I without you. She was probably offended that you felt the need to push me that far."  
Steven sighed, throwing his rock on the ground and grabbing his ukelele off the table. "Darn it. Aw, I'm never going to get to see Opal."  
He had been learning ukelele for more than four years now, and nobody could deny that he had musical talent. In fact, he was even known for improvising songs on the spot. Granted, his improvised songs weren't quite as good as the ones he spent time working on, but they were still impressive. So the two weren't terribly surprised when he started to strum on the strings and sing.  
 _"All I wanna do is see that this is true, a giant woman,_  
 _A giant woman!_  
 _All I wanna be is someone who gets to see a giant woman._  
 _All I wanna do is see why she withdrew, a giant woman,_  
 _A giant woman!_  
 _All I wanna be is someone who gets to see a giant woman._  
 _Oh I know it'll be great and I just can't wait to see the person that you love so much_  
 _If she gives it a chance she can do a huge dance because she is a giant woman._  
 _I bet that we'll like being together and if we don't it won't be forever._  
 _But if it were me, I'd really wanna be a giant woman,_  
 _a giant woman!_  
 _All I wanna do is see that this is true...a giant woman~."_  
Pearl sighed. "Well, if you want to see her that badly, then I guess we can call her. Amethyst, give me your phone."  
Amethyst scoffed. "As if! I'm not spending my credit on her! You call her!"  
"I'm not spending my credit! I might need to spend it on more important things, such as contacting Steven in an emergency!"  
Steven sighed. "Oh, just give me her number, I'll make the call."  
"Works for me," said Amethyst, getting out her cell phone and going to her contacts list. After pressing the right buttons she simply shoved it into Steven's hand and muttered, "Just call that number."  
Steven took his phone out and dialed the number. He quickly motioned for Pearl and Amethyst to be quiet as he put it to his ear.  
"Hello?" asked a feminine voice.   
"Hi!" said Steven excitedly. "I'm Steven and I don't know you but you know me from when I was a baby and Amethyst and Pearl told me about you and-"  
"Steven?" asked Opal. "Wow, I haven't seen you in six years! How's it been going?"  
"Well, a lot of stuff has happened, since it's been so long, and I need to learn about you since I don't actually remember, but you can tell me all that in person!"  
"In person?"  
"Yeah! You can come over! I need to meet you again since I haven't seen you since I was a baby!"  
"Umm, okay...who will be there?"  
"Oh, just the usual -- me, Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst-"  
"Oh," Opal said sadly. "I'd love to come, but I can't, I have...a...dentist appointment."  
Steven frowned. "Huh? But how can you have an appointment if you don't know when we're meeting up?"  
"Well, I...umm...err...well..."  
He sighed. "Opal, you can tell me. Amethyst and Pearl can't hear us now. If something's bothering you, you can tell me now and I'll work it out."  
Opal sighed. "Well, to tell you the truth...I love hanging out with Pearl and Amethyst, and Garnet, but...well, the last time I came over something happened, and I've been a bit worried about coming back since then."  
He lowered his voice. "Was it because of Pearl?"  
"Well, kind of...I mean, it was partly because she had a meltdown, but it was also kind of because of Amethyst was being a bit of a jerk about it...I just don't want to go there if they're always fighting. It makes me really uncomfortable when they fight."  
Steven nodded. "Don't worry. I'll talk to them about it and call you back."  
He hung up, and within seconds he was overwhelmed by the sound of Pearl and Amethyst demanding that he tell them that it was the other's fault Opal didn't want to come over anymore.   
"Both of you!" he yelled. "Be quiet, I need to explain!"  
The two reluctantly shut their mouths.   
"What is it?" asked Pearl. "Whose fault is it?"  
"Both," he answered simply. "She's sick of you two fighting whenever she's here. It makes her uncomfortable."  
Pearl and Amethyst looked at each other.  
"What do we do?" asked Pearl.  
Amethyst grinned. "Isn't it obvious? We get our friend back!"

"Who is it? Who is it?"  
Steven hurriedly opened the door. The face seemed familiar, but he couldn't remember where from. The figure had dark skin and blue eyes, and blonde hair that was so long it fell to her knees even in the high ponytail it was tied into. She was incredibly tall- around seven feet.  
But he certainly recognized her voice.  
 _"All you wanna be, is someone who gets to see..."_


	3. Steven the Sword Fighter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pearl tries to teach Steven how fencing works.

_"It was you! You were the one who killed my brother. Cursing me to fight alone forever!"_  
"Oh Lonely Blade, you so lonely."  
 _"You think you can defeat me? The President of the Shadow Samurai Government?!"_  
Steven gasped. "What?! The janitor is the evil samurai president?! That's bananas!"  
Pearl rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, it was so obvious. He's been mopping in the background of every fight scene. Look, here he is on the cover of the box."  
"Oh yeah."  
 _"For my honor and for my brother! I will strike you down! Boomerang Blade!_  
 _"Piercing Shadow of a Thousand... Screams!"_  
"Go, Lonely, go!" chanted Steven. "Do the Boomerang Blade again!"  
"Oh come on," sighed Pearl. "this is ridiculous. Just look at their form, this is nothing like real sword fighting."  
Steven laughed, grabbing a handful of popcorn. "It's just a movie, Pearl."  
"Well, if you ever want to see a demonstration of proper sword techniques, I'd be happy to show you."  
Steven's eyes lit up.  
"Now?"

"Woah..."  
Steven stared around at the arena they were in. It was kind of like a football stadium but much smaller and older. The seats looked like they could only hold around a hundred people at most -- they were designed more for parents watching their kids than for an actual audience. The paint was peeling off the walls, the seats carelessly broken in a few places, but it was good enough for Pearl.  
Pearl had started getting fencing lessons behind her mother's back as a teenager, once she had saved up enough money from her low-paying part-time job. It was a miracle she had managed to keep it hidden until she turned eighteen, especially considering all the times she was home late because of it or had to borrow money from Rose to keep paying for the lessons, but it had paid off in the end.   
When she had run away from her mother and moved in with Garnet, Garnet was already nineteen with a job, and she moved out pretty soon after finishing school. Pearl would have felt awkward staying with her parents if Garnet wasn't there, and although she was able to stay with Rose for a while, she knew it coudn't last forever. The problem was that now that she was away from her mother she was finally starting to transition, and being visibly trans along with her autism made it hard to get a job. She had seen the opportunity to be a fencing instructor and jumped for it. They had taught her as a student, so of course they hired her.  
"Alright," said Pearl, holding two swords. "in order to give a proper demonstration I'm going to need a sparring partner.  
Steven and Amethyst immediately rose their hands, and Garnet immediately lowered them.  
"Luckily, I have the perfect candidate on her way. I invited my old friend Holo over to help me demonstrate."

"Do you wish to engage in combat?"  
Pearl nodded, throwing Holo her sword. "Let this be the perfect battle."  
They had only known Holo for a few minutes, and already they were all thinking the same thing: She's even worse than Pearl!  
Sure, Pearl could be a nerd sometimes, but at least she could get out a sentence without sounding like a robot. Holo had the same hairstyle as Pearl, but dark brown rather than strawberry blonde. She had considerably darker skin than Pearl, too, and she was maybe just a little bit skinnier. The most notable difference, however, was that she seemingly had an obsession with the colour blue.   
Literally every single part of her outfit was blue. And when I say that, I don't mean that every part of her outfit had blue, I mean it was completely blue all over. Blue skirt, blue tights, blue shoes, blue shirt. It was like she had walked into an Autism Awareness event with some strange idea that if she lit her entire body up blue then she would raise more money for Autism Speaks and she would finally be able to legally kill her disabled children.  
She caught the sword. "You've already made a mistake by challenging me!"  
Pearl laughed. "We shall let our swords decide."  
"Nerd!" yelled Amethyst.   
"Shh!" snapped Garnet and Pearl.  
Holo grinned. "Commencing duel." she said, and she lunged.  
But Pearl was faster, using her own sword to block the attack, then the next one, and then the next until Holo had to stop for a moment to catch her breath. "Good defense. Zero openings detected."  
"Go, Pearl, go!" cheered Steven.  
Amethyst stuck her tongue out. "Go Holo!"  
"Huh?" asked Pearl, turning to face Amethyst in confusion.  
Mistake.  
In the instant she was distracted, Holo swiftly disarmed her. Pearl turned sharply in shock, and Holo grinned. "Opening detected," she said, and attacked.  
But Pearl was faster yet again, dodging the attack and sliding across the arena floor towards her sword. She picked it up, using it to block another attack as she stood up and lunging at Holo, holding her sword to the darker-skinned girl's neck.  
"Match set," said Holo in defeat. "Pearl wins."  
"Woohoo! Yay, Pearl!" yelled Steven, running over to her. "That was amazing, you were so cool!"  
Pearl blushed. "Oh-hoho, well, one does try their best."  
"Will you teach me to sword fight like you?!"  
"Alright, but we should start with the basics." She turned to Holo, clearing her throat. "Holo, could you help me train Steven?"  
Holo nodded, and Pearl turned to Steven. "I want you to stand back Steven, and watch me carefully, okay?"  
He nodded, and they started fighting.  
"Do you see what I'm doing with my feet, Steven?" said Pearl, struggling to concentrate on teaching him while blocking and dodging attacks. "Notice where I keep my center of gravity."  
"Aw, can you show me something cool? Like the Boomerang Blade!"  
"Steven, you know that's not a real sword technique."  
"Boomerang Blade! Boomerang Blade! Boomerang Blade!"  
She turned to Steven, annoyed. "Steven, these are real sword techniques. Not those silly things from your movies. It's about waiting carefully for the perfect moment to-"  
Steven gasped.  
Amethyst's eyes widened as she sat up, ready for action.  
Garnet stood up. "Oh no."  
There was a loud clanging sound as Pearl's sword hit the floor.  
"...Pearl?"  
Pearl looked down at the blood pouring out of her wound, chuckling nervously. "W-whoopsie-daisy! Steven, it's okay. I'm gonna be just-"  
She stopped mid-sentence, collapsing to the ground.  
Holo swore aloud. "Sorry -- I didn't mean to do that -- I'll call an ambulance!"  
Garnet and Amethyst ran over to the middle of the arena, Garnet checking Pearl's injury while Amethyst focused on comforting Steven.  
"I-I was just..." he stammered. "a-aand she was trying to-"  
Amethyst put a hand on his back. "Steven, it's okay, Pearl's gonna be just fine."  
Steven looked to Garnet. 'Whaddya mean?"  
Garnet turned to face him. "Don't worry, Steven. She'll just have to go to the hospital for a while. I'm sure the doctors can make her better."  
"So she's gonna be okay?"  
Garnet nodded.  
Amethyst sat down next to him. "Don't worry, bud. These kinds of things just happen sometimes. Usually to me."  
"Always to you." corrected Garnet.  
"Hey, I'm scrappy. Whaddya want?"  
Steven laughed. "So, how long will it take her to get better? 5 minutes? 10 minutes?"  
Garnet and Amethyst frowned.

Two weeks.  
He couldn't help but start to resent Garnet and Amethyst for not telling him it would take so long. Sure, they had no way of knowing how long it would be either, but that didn't help.  
Somehow they managed without Pearl, although the house was a lot messier without her to clean up while she was recovering. Steven and Amethyst had gotten used to being picked up at the bus stop after school by just Garnet instead of Garnet and Pearl.  
Until one day.  
When Garnet picked them up an announced that she had a 'surprise' for them when they got home, they didn't bother asking. They could guess who it was.  
They ran back home, not even waiting for Garnet to catch up, overwhelmed with a desire to see her again. The second they saw her, they roughly pulled her into a hug that seemed to last forever.  
When they finally broke apart, Steven found himself staring at her. "Wow, Pearl, you look...different."  
She did look different. She was wearing an outfit that Steven had never seen her in before -- a large teal shirt with a yellow star on it, yellow bike shorts, pink socks, teal shoes and a large teal ribbon tied around her waist where she had been injured fighting Holo.  
She chuckled. "Well, I thought it was time for a change in outfit. Now, is this really how messy the house would always be if I wasn't here? I'd best start cleaning."  
And they cleaned.   
Together.


	4. An Indirect Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amethyst gets injured and the others have to help her.

_"Steven, hurry up!"_  
_A young boy with curly black hair looked down at the ground as he trudged uphill. He was wearing a salmon pink t-shirt with a yellow star on it, and jeans along with salmon pink sandals. By his side was a pinkish-brown cat with a messy scruff of fur around its neck, like a lion's mane. He finally caught up and promptly collapsed onto the ground._  
_His companion, Connie, frowned. "Are you okay?"_  
_Steven sighed. "I'm fine."_  
_Connie, a young dark-skinned girl with long hair and maroon glasses, got a sandwich out of the picnic basket next to her. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked as she handed him the sandwich._  
_"Yeah..." he said sadly, eating the sandwich slowly._  
_Connie paused, unsure of how to proceed. She looked around at the white fence surrounding them. "Okay, uh... So, um... Is this fence new?"_  
_"Uh, it's a long story."_  
_She blushed. "Is it a magic story?!"_  
_He was still upset, but he tried to feign interest for his friend. "Mayybee?"_  
_"Well, what happened? Tell me, please."_  
_"Okay, okay. But it's not a happy story."_

_"Amethyst was horsing around, by the cliff."_

"Amethyst!" yelled Steven. "Be careful!"  
Amy Quartz, or Amethyst as she preferred to be called, laughed. Amethyst was a short teenage girl who had dark skin and darker hair, dyed with white and purple streaks, that went all the way down her back and covered half of her hair. Every part of her appearance was screaming that she didn't care how she looked; the strap of her grey tank top was falling down to reveal her black bra, and there were holes in the knees of her black track pants that looked vaguely like stars. The only part of her appearance that was even slightly presentable was the purple gem she wore on a string around her neck for good luck.  
She laughed. "Steven, why are you getting so worked up?" She made a mock-lovestruck face. "Why~? Do you care about me or something?"  
Steven had a worried look on her face. "Yes..."  
"Ah, Steven, I didn't mean to make you--" She pretended to fall backwards, towards the edge of the cliff. "Woah, woah!"  
"Amethyst, stop you're gonna fall!"  
"Ooh... Steven! *giggles* I'm gonna fa-all!"  
He started chasing her. "Amethyst, you're gonna get hurt!"  
She stopped at the end of the cliff. "Steven, please, I'm a warrior, I'm not gonna fall--"  
Unsurprisingly, she fell.  
The cliff wasn't terribly high up, high enough that one could easily survive the fall and even, in theory, escape uninjured under the right circumstances, but it was still high enough that there was a real risk of Amethyst getting seriously hurt, and also inexplicably long enough for her to facepalm and mutter, "Ugh, this is so embarrassing."  
She crashed onto a rock below. "I'm okay!" she screamed.  
She wasn't.

_"So I ran there as fast as I could."_

Steven panted, gasping for air as he fell into the sand next to the rock Amethyst had landed on. "You sure you're okay?"  
"Yes, Steven, I'm fine," she lied. "Except for this!"  
She sat up, moving part of her oversized fringe out of the way to show Steven a huge purple circle around her eye. It was then that Garnet and Pearl came.  
Garnet was tall and muscular, with dark skin and a vaguely square-shaped afro. She was wearing sunglasses that concealed her eyes and black gloves. Her outfit consisted of a plain white shirt, leather jacket, and jeans. Her expression was almost unreadable- her face didn't seem to be contorting in response to emotion in the same way that others did.  
Pearl, by contrast, was flat-chested and dangerously skinny, with olive skin and blue eyes. She had short strawberry blonde hair restrained by her white headband, which had a small white circle in the middle of it. She was wearing an oversized teal shirt with a yellow star on it, and tight yellow shorts with pink socks and teal shoes.  
"Amethyst!" Pearl gasped. "You're bleeding!"  
Amethyst looked down, seeing that the front of her tank top was stained red. She shrugged. "Eh, I probably just got my period."  
"Show me your chest!"  
She ran forward to check if her friend was okay, kneeling in front of Amethyst. She reached out to touch Amethyst, but the teenager slapped her hand away. "Fresh!"  
Garnet stomped forward and pulled Amethyst's shirt away to inspect the damage. Maybe it was that Pearl was a trans woman and Amethyst still hadn't unlearned the idea that trans women were 'creepy' or 'perverts', or maybe it was that Garnet, being aromantic and asexual, couldn't possibly have gotten any pleasure from looking down her shirt, but either way she showed less resistance against Garnet.  
Pearl gasped. "Amethyst! You broke your necklace and it cut you! Oh God, that looks bad..."  
"Rude!" Amethyst snapped, back to being resistant now that Pearl was looking. "Ah- It's not a big deal! Plus, now I have this cool red spot!"  
Steven laughed, but Pearl was still hysterical. "How did this even happen?"  
"She fell off the cliff by the lighthouse," explained Steven.  
"Did not!" protested Amethyst.  
"Of course..." exclaimed Pearl. "How could I have been so blind? We need to put a fence up there, so this will never happen again!"

 _"And that's why there's a fence. The end."_  
_Connie frowned. "Wait, what happened to Amethyst?"_  
_"Uhhh..."_  
_"C'mon! Tell me the rest!"_  
_"I don't wanna."_  
_"Steven?_  
_Steven looked away._  
_"Steven..."_  
_He started shaking and murmuring._  
_"Steven!"_  
_He groaned loudly._  
_"Okay, okay... But only if you let me try on your glasses."_  
_"Only if you give me the rest of your juice."_  
_"Okay, but it's mostly backwash."_  
_"Good enough."_  
_The two swapped items and Steven put on the maroon glasses. "How do I look?"_  
_Connie squinted. "I have no idea."_  
_"Well... um... so... we were all worried about Amethyst."_

"So, what's the problem? Amethyst falls on stuff all the time."  
Pearl frowned. "She hurt herself badly this time."  
"So, what do you do to make her better?"  
"Before..." She sighed. "...we had Rose.  
Garnet stepped in to explain. "Steven, your mother had an uncanny ability to practice first aid. She felt real love for those around her. She felt real sorrow when they were hurt. You have her empathy. I know that ability is in you, too."  
Of course, neither Garnet nor Pearl was silly enough to leave a seriously injured Amethyst in the care of an eight-year-old boy. But Garnet had a feeling that helping Amethyst would make Steven feel more useful, even if he didn't actually do anything useful.  
Steven grinned. "Amethyst, show me your chest!"  
"Yeah, all right."  
Steven put his face close to her injury, and whispered, "The power to heal."  
Five minutes later, blood and band-aids littered the floor, and the air tasted like failure.  
Garnet at this point had given up on trying to make Steven feel helpful. "We have no choice. We need to take Amethyst to the doctor."  
Amethyst scoffed. "Guys I'm fine, I'm not gonna get any worrrse..."  
Suddenly she gritted her teeth and grunted in pain, moving her hand up to clutch her injured chest.  
Pearl frowned. "Garnet has a point. But where should we take her?"  
"The place near Diamond Academy is pretty good."  
"No, no, no, that's much too far, she needs quick help- do you think we should just take her to the emergency room?"  
As the two started to debate over the severity of Amethyst's injury and the urgency of getting her to a doctor, Amethyst herself was standing up and trying to pretend she was fine. "Don't worry, Steven. I'm okay. There are some bandages on top of the fridge, can you go get them?"  
He nodded and ran off.  
Maybe it was the pain, or maybe it was her general immaturity, but Amethyst somehow failed to realize that Steven would have to stand on a chair to reach the fridge, and that Steven was terrible at standing on chairs.  
Unsurprisingly, he ended up knocking the bandages down and knocking the chair out from under him, falling to the ground. Amethyst ran to check if he was okay.  
Pearl glared. "Amethyst, no more roughhousing, you'll exacerbate your injury!"  
She rolled her eyes. "Steven just almost died, just so you know-"  
She stopped mid-sentence, grunting in pain. Pearl gasped, but Amethyst tried to wave her concerns away. "Don't worry or anything," she said through gritted teeth. "I'm good..."  
She moaned in pain. Pearl rushed to her side. "Ohh! Oh! Keep calm. What we need to do is get you to a doctor immediately."  
Garnet turned to Steven. "Steven, we just need to go and help Amethyst. You stay here and be good."

 _Steven lurched forward, clutching his head. "Ahh!_ Headache _!"_  
_"So give back my glasses and finish the story!"_

So Steven was left wandering the house alone. He sighed, looking at the bandages strewn across the floor, and decided he might as well start picking up the band-aids. He frowned, remembering what had happened. Amethyst fell all the time, and he could always patch her up with a few band-aids. He was good at helping people. Why couldn't he help Amethyst now?  
"I don't understand anything! Why is everyone acting so strange? Why can't I--"  
He looked up at the wall, and saw a familiar picture. A picture of a light-skinned woman with curly pink hair even longer than Amethyst's, a woman with pink lipstick and a beautiful white dress.  
A picture of his mother.  
"Why can't I help her?" he cried. "Why can't I help her?"  
Rose Quartz would have known how to help Amethyst. Rose Quartz could have patched her up in no time and there would have been no need to go to the doctors. But Rose Quartz wasn't around to help. Rose Quartz had died in complications giving birth to him, and it was his fault, just like it was his fault Amethyst was hurt.  
And yet here he was, staring at the picture of the mother he had never met. And somehow, despite everything...he didn't feel like he missed her.  
"It's just... I mean, I don't know how to feel about you, but everyone else does. I wish I could have met you then this place would make me sad, and I could cry. Maybe if I really had your empathy, then I would have tried harder to help her."

 _Connie sniffled._  
_Steven paused. "Are you okay?"_  
_She nodded. "Keep going."_

It was then that he noticed his phone ringing. He reached into his pocket to check the caller ID; it was Pearl. He quickly answered it.  
"Good news, Steven, Amethyst is going to be okay."  
His eyes lit up. "Is it because I saved her with my epic cool band-aid skills?"  
"No," said Garnet's voice bluntly. "It was because we took her to a doctor."  
"You don't think I helped a little?"  
Pearl answered again this time. "Oh Steven, you're not really good at first aid. You'll never have any useful skills, and we don't want anything more to do with you."

 _"She didn't really say that."_  
_"No, but that's what it felt like."_  
_"Is that why you've been so down?"_  
_Steven shrugged._  
_Connie bit her lip. "Oh. You can have your juice back."_  
_"Nah, that's okay." He sighed. "Everyone expects me to be like my mom. What if I'm never like her?"_  
_"Then you'll be like you. That's not so bad."_  
_"But if I'm not like mom, then I can't hang out with Amethyst or Garnet or Pearl!"_  
_"You don't need to be like her to be here with me."_  
_She leaned in, hoping to kiss Steven, then suddenly yelped in surprise as she felt something stinging her eyes._  
 _Once she could see again, she looked down. She had squeezed the juice box too hard and it had splaushed into her eyes. Then she had an idea._  
_She quickly looked around, then gasped. "Steven! Your spit healed my eyes! It's a miracle!"_  
_He gasped. "I must have magical spit! Thank you, Connie!"_  
_He hugged her and grabbed the pinkish cat by his side, running off to tell his family about his magic spit. Connie smiled, looking after him. She didn't like lying to Steven, but if it made him feel better, then it was worth it._


	5. Fusion Cuisine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie's family invites Steven's family over to dinner, but Connie has told her parents that Steven lives with his mother, father and teenage sister Amethyst, meaning he has to choose between Garnet and Pearl to act as his mother. He doesn't want to choose.

_"Doctor, it's my son. There was an accident. I -"_  
 _"I know what we have to do. Nurse!"_  
 _"Yes, doctor?"_  
 _"Prep the patient for emergency surgery. We're gonna go... under the knife."_  
Connie screamed happily. "Ugggggh!!!! This show is so good! Aaah! Thank you so much for letting me watch _Under the Knife_ here, Steven."  
"How come you can't watch the show at home?" asked Steven.  
"My mom says this doesn't represent a real emergency room."  
 _"How did his legs... get into... his brain?!"_  
"She just doesn't understand that it's satire."  
Suddenly, they heard a phone ringing.  
"Is that your phone?" asked Steven.  
"It's probably my mom." she answered. She checked the caller ID. "Called it." She cleared her throat and held the phone to her ear. "Hi, Mother. It's Connie. Mm-hmm. Yes, ma'am. *looks at Steven* I'm at the home of Steven Universe. Mm-hmm. Yes, ma'am. We're—we're just hanging out. Oh... Steven's parents. They're, uh—they're in the other room. You would like to talk to Steven's mom? Oh, okay. Hold on a moment."  
Steven looked worried. "That's gonna be pretty hard since my mom died giving birth."  
Connie blocked the phone with her hand. "I can't tell her that!"  
The two ran down the stairs, breathing heavily.  
"Garnet, quick—you have to pretend to be my mom to Connie's mom." said Steven hurriedly.  
Garnet took the phone. "Hello. This... is Mom Universe. Yes.The children are playing swords. Sorry—playing with swords. They're bleeding. Oh no, they are dead. Don't call again."  
She hung up, giving the phone back to Steven. "Sorry, I panicked."

"Aw, what do you mean, your mom won't let you come over? It's the midseason pre-finale of _Under the Knife!"_  
Connie sighed into her phone. "Steven, my parents are really upset. They say they will not let me see you again until they meet both of your parents in person."  
"But that's impossible!"  
"I know, but they want both of our families to go out together for dinner."  
"It sounds so... adult. I wonder if Fish Stew Pizza will take reservations for--" he counted on his fingers -- "Pearl, Garnet, Dad, Amethyst—all eight of us."  
"You can't bring everybody!"  
"Why not?"  
"Because... because... I told my parents you have a nuclear family!"  
"Nuclear?!" he said defensively. "Sure, Amethyst makes stuff blow up sometimes, but that's because she's epic, not radioactive!"  
"Ste-ven, "nuclear" means two parents and their child and/or children. My parents think you live with your mother and father, and your teenage sister Amethyst."  
Steven frowned. "But none of that is true. You never told your mom and dad about Garnet and Pearl?"  
"No, and it has to stay that way. If they find out I lied to them, they'll never let me hang out with you again."

Steven sighed, pacing around in front of Garnet and Pearl. "How am I supposed to choose just one of you to bring to dinner? You're all so... cool!"  
Pearl turned up her nose. "Why does it have to be dinner? I can eat at home. Besides, if we eat at a restaurant, they might not be able to make food I can eat, what with all my sensory issues."  
Amethyst rolled her eyes. "I love eating! Just stop being so picky!" she said between bites of the chips she was eating.  
"Okay, okay, okay," said Steven. "Let's focus. Which of you would make the best and most nuclear mom? Garnet, you keep us safe by scaring off the bad guys, just like a mom would."  
Garnet said nothing.  
"But you're not the best conversationalist. Amethyst, you would be a super fun mom!"  
"Yeah," said Amethyst. "but I'm your sister. I mean, unless you wanna make me your mum and make Pearl your sis." She chuckled.  
Steven turned to Pearl. "Pearl! You're always worried about me, you teach me lots of stuff, you're approachable, and you're, like, totally not my sister."  
"Uh..." mumbled Pearl.  
"But... you can't eat dinner." He sighed, sitting next to Greg on the couch. "Man, why did Connie have to say I have one mother instead of zero... or two?"  
Greg sighed. "We'll figure this thing out. We just have to put our heads together."  
That was when Steven had an idea.  
"Why didn't I think of this before? It's so obvious! You can both come to dinner—both of you, disguised as one!"  
"What?!" choked Pearl.  
"Whoa!" yelled Amethyst.  
"What?" asked Greg.  
"Steven," asked Pearl. "What do you mean?"  
"You two can wear, like, a really big trench coat, and Pearl can get on Garnet's shoulders, and we'll pretend you're just one really tall person!"  
Amethyst's jaw dropped. "That's insane."  
Garnet adjusted her sunglasses. "Steven, there's no way we're going to pull that off."  
"I know. Then I guess this is it. I'll never get to see Connie again. Oh, Connie! I'll never know a star that shines as bright as you."  
Garnet sighed. "We have no choice."

It was doomed to fail.   
Garnet was wearing dark teal tights to hide that her skin colour didn't even come close to matching Pearl's, yet alone Steven's, while Pearl wore sunglasses to hide her bright blue eyes that didn't match up with Steven's eye colour at all. As Pearl sat on Garnet's shoulders, they wore a ridiculously large magenta trench coat (the colour was a little off-putting, but it was hard to get clothes in that size), and a turquoise wig longer than Amethyst's hair to help hide Garnet.  
Their name was 'Alexandra', 'Alex', 'Alexandria', or 'Alexandrite'; they couldn't seem to agree on which and they couldn't help but wonder if Connie's family would find it odd that none of them could agree on her name. It was doomed to fail, but they were doing it anyway.

"We've been waiting for nearly 20 minutes."  
The speaker was a dark-skinned woman with onyx eyes and dark hair, wearing a light blue shirt and brown pants. Sitting next to her was her husband, who had black hair and was wearing a fluffy brown jacket, jeans and a purple tie. Between them sat Connie.  
They gasped in shock.  
Coming towards them was what looked like a ten-foot-tall woman at least, with ridiculously long turquoise hair, wearing a stupidly long magenta trench coat and sunglasses.  
"Uh... Oh."  
"Hi, Connie!" yelled Steven, struggling to keep up with the woman. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Maheswaran!"  
Greg finally caught up to the two. "I'm Greg Universe. And this massive drink of water is my wife, Alexandra."  
"Alexandrite!" hissed Garnet.  
"I mean, Alexandrite," corrected Greg.  
"It's Alexandria!" said Pearl forcefully.  
"But," said Amethyst, more forcefully. "you can just call her Alex. I'm Steven's sister, Amy."  
"You're related to them?" asked Dr. Maheswaran. She seemed skeptical. Greg and Steven were both white, and Pearl was light-skinned enough to pass, but the dark-skinned Samoan Amethyst had no hope of passing as being related to them by blood.  
Connie looked at Pearl's face, then at the shape of Garnet's legs, and then at the lump just above where Garnet's shouders would be. She put two and two together.  
"Steven," she whispered under her breath, "you idiot."

"I hope this place has unlimited breadsticks."  
Dr. Maheswaran glared at her husband. "Don't be rude."  
As anyone reading this who has food-related sensory issues, or is just generally a picky eater, may know, if you are going out for dinner and you don't know whether you'll like all the foods at the restaurant, but there is one thing you know for sure you can eat, then you'll probably eat way too much of it so that you're too full to try anything else. And for Pearl, that thing was breadsticks.  
"So, tell me—how did you two meet?" asked Dr. Maheswaran.  
Greg blushed. "Huh? How did we meet? Well, we, um--"  
Steven stood up from his seat. "They met on a roller coaster!"  
"What?" mouthed Connie.  
"She was too tall to ride! Heh-heh."  
Connie shook her head disapprovingly.  
"Uh," Greg chuckled nervously. "I remember it like it was yesterday. Right, honey? Eh..." He leaned closer to Alex. "Sorry," he whispered.  
Pearl grabbed another handful of breadsticks and shoved them into Greg's face. "Have some more breadsticks... dear."  
Mr. Maheswaran coughed. "Uh, what is it that you two do for a living, Mr. and Mrs. Universe?"  
"Well, you see," Greg answered. "I own a local car wash, and my sweet, dear wife here--"  
"My mom works on an apple farm!" yelled Steven.  
Connie sighed, slamming her head onto the table.  
Dr. Maheswaran glared. "What did we say about heads on the table?"  
"She uses her super long arms to pick apples out of huge trees." explained Steven.  
Greg forced a laugh. "Well, you know what they say—an apple a day keeps the doctor away."  
"Yes," said what was very clearly Garnet's voice, while Pearl uselessly tried to flap her mouth to look like she was talking. "I hate doctors."  
Dr. Maheswaran glared. "Well, I'm a doctor."  
"Steven," yelled Connie. "help me find the restroom!"

"Things are going pretty good so far, huh?"  
"Steven, are you kidding me?! What is this thing that you brought to dinner?!"  
"It—it's my family. It's Garnet and Pearl, disguised as a giant woman."  
"Why couldn't you just bring one of them?"  
"'Cause that would be a lie." Steven narrowed his eyes. "Your... glasses..."  
"What about them?"  
"I healed your eyes. You don't even need to wear those anymore."  
"What are you talking about?"  
He gasped. "I don't really have healing spit! You lied to me, just like you lied to your parents about my family! I bet it's because you're homophobic!"  
"Oh, whatever, Steven. Let's just focus on getting through the evening."

"So, Steven was telling me that on his mom's apple farm, they're bio-engineering a gala-fuji hybrid."  
"Yes," said Steven. "that's definitely true."  
"Isn't that right, Mrs. Universe?" asked Dr. Maheswaran.  
Pearl ignored her, staring at the plate of food in front of her. "Ugh!"  
Amethyst rolled her eyes, picking up the shrimp and shoving it into her face. Pearl glared. "What are you doing?"  
"Just eat it!"  
"I don't think so."  
"Cut it out, you two." hissed Garnet.  
"Stop!" yelled Steven. "You don't have to eat it!"  
"Yes you do!" snapped Amethyst.  
"Pearl, just try it," hissed Garnet. "If you can't eat it, then don't, but at least try!"  
Pearl nodded to nobody in particular, taking the shrimp and forcing herself to shove it into her mouth. The texture alone was repulsive, let alone the taste, but she forced herself to swallow it.  
"Pearl," warned Garnet. "now would be a really bad time to have a meltdown."  
Pearl glared downwards, angrily kicking Garnet and failing to remember the number one rule of life: If you're awkwardly sitting on someone's shoulders in a massive trenchcoat, don't kick them.  
Garnet lost her balance from the kick, falling backwards into her chair, which in turn caused Pearl to lose her balance, and before anyone knew what was going on the two were lying on the floor underneath a massive magenta trenchcoat.  
Pearl blushed, taking the turquoise wig off to reveal her strawberry blonde hair. "Um, I know it looks bad, but I can explain."  
A thought occurred to Amethyst. "Damn, why didn't we just make Garnet the face and have her sit on Pearl's shoulders? Then she could eat dinner, my existence would be more realistic, and we could say that Steven mostly takes after Greg."  
Garnet shook her head. "There's no way Pearl could take my weight."  
"What is going on here?" demanded Mr. Maheswaran. "Who are they?!"  
Dr. Maheswaran glared. "I knew I should have trusted my bad feelings about this new friend of yours, but I never thought I wouldn't be able to trust my own daughter."  
Connie looked at her mother, tears almost forming in her eyes, and ran.  
"Connie!" yelled Steven, and he ran after her.

"Connie."  
"Steven, I'm so sorry," the darker-skinned girl sobbed. "It's not that I'm homophobic. It's just that my parents are. I was so worried that my parents would think you being raised by two women is weird. What if they don't let me hang out with you anymore?"  
"I-I'm sorry I messed everything up. I wish there was a way we could just... hang out without having to worry about stuff."  
"Steven, let's just hop on a bus and live somewhere else without telling anyone!"  
"That's a great idea!"  
It wasn't a great idea.

"Where's this bus taking us?" asked Steven nervously.  
Connie shrugged. "Wherever we end up. We'll find a way to survive. I've been reading about sustainable living."  
"Maybe it'll take us to a real apple farm!"  
"What's up with you and apples today?"  
 _"Stop this bus right now!"_  
Steven and Connie glanced at each other nervously, and as the bus came to a halt, they looked out the window to see Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst.  
"Steve-e-e-n!" yelled Pearl as the bus door opened.  
"You two," ordered Garnet. "come out of that bus this instant!"   
They had no choice but to obey.

"I don't even know where to begin with you, young la--" began Connie's mother.  
"What were you thinking, running off with Connie like that?" choked Pearl. "You could have gotten yourselves hurt!"  
"Or gotten mangled in traffic." said Garnet.  
"Or thrown in prison," added Amethyst.  
"Steven," said Pearl angrily. "you are in very big trouble, and we have no choice but to punish you."  
"But..."  
"No dinner for 1,000 hours."  
Steven pouted. "1,000?"  
Pearl glared at Garnet. "We would never starve you, but you will lose your TV privileges... for 1,000 hours. Which is slightly under 42 days."  
"No! The midseason pre-finale of Under the Knife! How can you do this to me?!"  
Greg gave a disapproving look. "Because we love you, Steven."  
"Wow," said Dr. Maheswaran. "That was a masterful use of the "because we love you" shutdown. I'm quite partial to the "It's for your own good" myself."  
Mr. Maheswaran chuckled. "That "1,000 hours of no dinner" bit was pretty funny."  
"All comedy is derived from fear." said Garnet with all the emotion of a brick.  
Mr. Maheswaran laughed. "You are too much!""  
Dr. Maheswaran looked at Garnet and Pearl. "I did not know what to make of the two of you, but I see that you are responsible parents—uh, caregivers? Guardians."  
Connie's eyes lit up. "So, I can still hang out with Steven?"  
"Sure."  
"Alright!" yelled Steven, pulling Connie into a hug.  
Mr. Maheswaran glared, forcefully pulling the kids apart.   
"So," asked Steven, grinning. "do I get to keep the trench coat?"


	6. Mirror Gem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven borrows Pearl's old camera for a school assignment, but soon dismisses it as broken and throws it out.
> 
> It comes back.

"What? Why not?"  
The dark-skinned girl sighed into her phone. "Steven, I told you, I can't hang out today. I have tennis practice. And then Mom wants to go out for a family dinner. But she said I could hang out all day tomorrow, so we can start on the photography project then. Do you have a camera we could use?"  
"What's a camera?" asked Steven, sounding confused.  
Connie Maheswaran raised an eyebrow. "You know, the app on your phone that takes pictures, except it's not on your phone?"  
"Oh yeah, I've never used a proper one before. Can't we just use my phone?"  
"No, it'll be better if we use a proper camera. My parents said they'll buy me one if we need to but I wanted to check if your family has one. Can you ask Pearl?"  
"I will."

Steven looked down at the pile. "Yep, it's all coming together."  
Pearl grinned. "So, how do we begin this school project?"  
Steven sighed, staring at the pile of junk Pearl had insisted would be necessary. "Ugh... I... I don't know! Connie didn't tell me much. Why do I never ask follow-up questions?! Now where will we get a camera?!"  
Pearl gasped. "A camera?! Steven! If only I had known that's what you really wanted!"   
She kneeled over the pile and started to move things out of the way until she found a small blue video camera with a tear-shaped logo on the back. She handed it to Steven. "This is the highest-quality camera I could afford when I was your age! I brought it with my own money!"  
"How does it work?" he asked.  
She took it back into her hands. "It hasn't been activated yet..." She started pressing buttons, trying to get it to work, before eventually sighing as she gave it back to Steven. "It is in pretty rough shape. It must finally be broken." She sighed again. "What a shame."  
"I'm sure I can get it to work somehow," said Steven optimistically, walking outside.  
Pearl frowned, looking down at the pile of junk. "Hmm. The asymmetry of this pile is really starting to bother me."

"I've got a camera!" Steven yelled, running around happily.  
"Hey!" yelled a voice.   
He ignored the voice, and found himself slamming into someone.  
He looked up to see a familiar face- a lanky Filipino boy with curly ginger hair styled into what looked like a teenager trying to get a mohawk to look 'punk' but not actually putting the effort in. He was wearing a violet t-shirt with a picture of a half-eaten donut on it over a pale long-sleeved shirt and dark blue ripped jeans.   
He glared. "Er, watch where you're going, you little f...Sssteven!"  
"Sorry! I'm just so excited about this camera. Are you excited about this camera? I'm so excited about this camera!"  
His companion, a short heavyset girl with curly blonde hair who was wearing the same uniform as him, laughed. "Yeah, Steven, very exciting. But Lars is kinda occupied at the moment. He's got big plans."  
"You bet I do!" declared Lars. "All those out-of-town summer babes traveling away from home without their boyfriends, if you know what I mean."  
"Nope," said Steven bluntly.  
He ignored him. "Maybe I'll get a few numbers. Maybe I'll even... call one."  
His companion, Sadie, chuckled. "Ha! Well, yeah, maybe I'll meet a new friend."  
Steven's eyes lit up. "That's a great idea - A special new friend to have fun on the beach with in the summer. Maybe if I keep using this camera to guide me, I'll walk backwards into my own beach-summer-fun buddy!"  
"Next time you see me, I'll be on the arm of a hot woman!" declared Lars.  
Sadie rolled her eyes. "You can stop talking about it now."  
Steven frowned. "I need to figure out how to get this camera to work. If it doesn't work then I can't do my school project, and I need to get started on the project or else I won't finish it in time and I'll get in trouble."  
"Ugh, who cares?" said Lars. "I stopped trying to do good in school long ago, when I realized that you won't get good grades no matter how hard you try."  
Sadie chuckled. "Still sour about that first detention in year seven, eh?"  
"Of course I'm still annoyed about it! I did not punch him! He framed me!"  
Steven gasped dramatically. "You were imprisoned for a crime you didn't commit? That's awful!"  
Sadie rolled her eyes. "Lars, we all know you punched him. I saw it. All the teachers saw it."  
"Ugh, whatever!" snapped Lars.  
"Wait!" said Steven. "Maybe she thought she saw it, but she didn't! Isn't there some thing that makes you think you see things when you don't? Like...the Mandela Effect or something?"  
"I dunno," said Sadie. "You'd better go fix it though. Maybe ask your parents -- I mean, ask Pearl or the others to help you."

After a long hour of trying to get the camera to work himself and spending the rest of the day trying to get every adult he knew to fix it, he dismissed the camera as broken rubbish and threw it out.  
After a long few months of not remembering such a camera existed, it came back.

"Guys! I found something!"  
"That's nice, Steven," said Pearl, not even looking up. "What did you find?"  
"That old camera that we thought was broken!"  
Pearl looked up. "Where did you find it?"  
"It was just on the beach."  
Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Eh, whatevs. If it was broken before, there's no way it'll work after getting wet."  
"No, there's this video on it -- it's just clips of me and Lars talking edited together in this weird way and some random selfie. I think it was actually filming that time we couldn't get it to work and threw it out. Here, I'll show you."  
He pressed the play button and shoved the camera into Pearl's hands. Amethyst and Garnet moved forward, looking over her shoulder to see the video. They watched as they saw, as promised, clips of Steven and Lars talking edited together...to form a sentence.  
"To -- Ssssteven -- or -- whatever -- else -- see -- this camera! I'm -- imprisoned for a crime -- I -- didn't commit! Help -- me!"  
The last frame of the video wasn't of Steven or Lars, but instead a badly taken selfie of a dark-skinned woman with blue eyes wearing a blue hijab, as though she had tried to take a selfie with an old-timey camera that wasn't built with a selfie button.  
A look of dread came over Pearl's face, and she saw the same dread as she looked over at Garnet. "We've made a terrible mistake..." she mouthed.  
"Steven," said Garnet firmly. "There's someone out there who needs our help. I need you to do exactly what we say."  
He nodded.

They would only be able to hold off the guards for so long. It had to be quick.  
They needed to find a way to persuade her to come out.  
That wouldn't work with Garnet or Pearl talking to her -- she would recognize them. Amethyst could be more useful than Steven in fighting, and she would respond better to someone she recognized from the videos.  
Sure, he might tell her something she didn't need to know, but that was a risk they had to take.  
They had to make it up to her.

"Um -- who's in here? It's...It's me, Steven."  
She looked up.  
The woman from the photo, with the blue hijab, was sitting in the corner of the room. Now that he could see her in person, Steven could recognize the orange outfit that all the prisoners wore. She had a skinny frame and a flat chest, and somehow she reminded him of Pearl.  
She stood up and ran towards him.  
"Thank you... You didn't—" She fell forward, into his arms. "You actually came for me. You helped me! It's Steven, right?"  
He nodded. "Come on, my friends are helping me break you out. Follow me!"

They ran.  
He felt guilty about leaving Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet behind, but they had told him to keep going without them and he knew they would catch up.  
She didn't even know who was going to catch up with them.  
They ran all the way to the beach.  
They stopped, and waited.  
She saw them.

"You three knew I was in there, and you didn't do anything. Did you even wonder who I used to be?!"  
Steven watched in horror as his newfound friend glared at Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl with unimaginable fury. She ran forward, roughly pushing Amethyst and Pearl to the sides and jumping onto Garnet, trapping her in a wrestle.  
Pearl grunted in pain as she skidded along the ground. "Steven, run!"  
Steven's eyes widened in shock. "What are you doing?" he asked, half-screaming.  
"I'm Lapis Lazuli, and you can't keep me trapped here anymore!" roared Lapis.  
"Huh?" asked Steven.  
"They're not going to let us leave!" she grunted, struggling to keep Garnet pinned to the ground.  
"Leave?"  
Beads of sweat trickled down Lapis's head with the effort of fighting Garnet. "Steven, come with me. Help me fight them and come with me."  
Steven bit his lip. "Where?"  
"Home."  
"B-b-but..." Steven stuttered. "B-but I... Uh..."  
Lapis turned to glare at him. "Fine."  
Grunting with effort, Garnet finally pushed Lapis off of her. But despite her frail frame, Lapis was clearly stronger than she looked. While Garnet was still breathing heavily from exhaustion and trying to recover, she stood up and turned to Steven.  
"Don't trust them, Steven. Goodbye."  
And with that, she left.  
She wasn't running -- in fact, she was walking rather slowly -- but Garnet was still down, and nobody dared leave her behind to follow Lapis, not when there was a possibility that she was badly injured.   
"Steven!" yelled Pearl, running towards the younger boy and pulling him into a hug. "Are you okay?"  
"Yeah. I'm fine. So, do you guys know her?"  
Pearl sighed. "Yes."  
Garnet struggled to prop herself up on her shoulders, grunting. "Steven, I hate to break it to you, but I think we might have a bit of a problem." she said before collapsing back onto the sand.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My human AU version of Ocean Gem is coming soon!


	7. Ocean Gem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continued from "Mirror Gem", Steven and his friends try to get Lapis back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, I said I would do something and actually did it!
> 
> Updates will (hopefully) be somewhat more regular for the next two weeks because I have school holidays, so I can write more.

"A _bit_ of a problem?" choked Amethyst. "Some random women just attacked us and left after we saved her from prison!"  
Pearl frowned. "Lapis didn't attack us out of spite, Amethyst. She's been through a lot, and she just reacted badly to seeing Garnet and me after all these years. I'm sure we can get her to accept our help eventually."  
"We can't go after her yet," said Garnet. "She needs time to cool off, and we need time to recover."  
"Well, we shouldn't leave it for too long. The longer she's out there, the further away she can get and the harder it will be to find her. She might be a danger to herself."  
"We need to give it some time," said Garnet firmly. "If we go after her now she'll just attack us again, and that could end badly. She's a lot stronger than she looks. Come on, help me up."

Pearl frowned, rubbing a bruise on her side from where Lapis had pushed her. "How could I have known she would be so powerful?"  
She looked around at the room. Steven was sitting on the couch, next to his pinkish-coloured cat, Lion. Greg, Steven's father, was also there, along with Steven's friend Connie. Garnet was on the couch holding an ice pack to a bruise on her shoulder from Lapis's attack, while Amethyst stood behind the couch nervously.  
Steven bit his lip, then stood up and walked towards the door.  
"Where are you going, Steven?" asked Connie.  
Steven turned to face her. "I'm leaving to fix what she did to my family. I was the one who managed to persuade her to escape. I can bring her back. I'm gonna bring Lapis Lazuli back or get really tired trying."  
"Wait up, kiddo," said Greg. "I'm coming with you."  
"I want to help, too!" chimed in Connie. "Also, I feel weird being in your house if you're not here."  
Lion meowed, jumping off the couch and grabbing onto Steven's feet with his paws.  
Pearl cleared her throat. "Clearly, you can't go without us. And we can't go yet; Garnet's still injured."  
Garnet promptly threw her ice pack out a nearby window, standing up. "Come on, let's go."  
"Whoo-hoo!" yelled Amethyst. "Road trip!"

Part of the reason why Steven was living with Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl instead of his father Greg was that Greg had refused to be a financial burden on Rose's friends by staying with them, but he didn't want to force his son to be homeless, living in a van as he grew up. But any van that was large enough for Greg to live in was also large enough to make up for the fact that Garnet and Pearl didn't own a car.  
Garnet and Greg were in the front seats, with Greg driving, while Steven and Lion, Connie, Pearl, and Amethyst were in the back.  
"How about some tunes?" suggested Greg. "This was one of Rose's favorites."  
Before anyone knew what was happening, ridiculously loud rock music started playing. Amethyst and Pearl laughed uncomfortably. Greg ignored them. "What do you think, Garnet?"  
Garnet didn't answer, instead reaching over and unlocking the door of the van, undoing her seatbelt, kicking the door open and jumping out.  
The van screeched to a stop. "Holy crap!" yelled Greg. "Are you okay?!"  
"Garnet!" yelled Pearl. "What have I told you about jumping out of moving vehicles over music?! Are you alright?!"  
"Turn the music off." said Garnet.  
Greg rolled his eyes, turning the music off, and Garnet got up, limping back into the van. And they continued driving.

They were still driving through a forest long after it grew dark outside, as Lion curled up in Steven's lap and started to sleep. Steven frowned. "I can't believe Lapis would do this. People shouldn't fight each other."  
Pearl sighed. "We used to fight people a lot, actually."  
Steven gasped. "What?!"  
"Oh, how do I put this? All people aren't necessarily... good."  
Amethyst leaned forward. "Pearl and Garnet and Rose used to be super-cool rebels! Right, Pearl?"  
Pearl frowned. "Yes. But Lapis isn't one of the people we should rebel against. She's become corrupted and broken. We have to take care of her. It's the best we can do for her, for now. If we don't, then..."  
She was cut off by the sound of Steven gasping as he stared out the window. "Guys! It's Lapis!"  
Sure enough, he was right; there she was, between the trees. "Steven, you go alone," whispered Pearl. "We've got your back."  
He nodded and got out of the van, but the second his feet touched the ground, Lapis turned.  
"You shouldn't be here!" she yelled.  
"She sensed us." said Garnet.  
Steven stepped forward. "Lapis Lazuli! It's me, Steven!"  
"Go away!" she snapped. "Before I make you."  
"But I helped you!"  
She glared. "You're one of them. You're Rose's child."  
Inside the van, Amethyst and Pearl growled. Garnet took off her seatbelt in preparation, glancing back at them. "Easy."  
Back outside, Steven looked confused. "What do you mean? We're all people, right? Just let us help you."  
"You don't understand. Just leave me alone..."  
"We're not leaving, Lapis. Not without you."  
"I said..." she yelled, running towards him and pushing him backward. "Leave me alone!"  
In an instant Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Greg, and Connie got out of the van.  
"Greg, kids," ordered Pearl. "you stay behind us. We'll handle this."  
"Sounds good to me!" said Greg before running back into the van.  
Within seconds, Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl were fighting Lapis. It was three against one, and Garnet was an experienced fighter, while Pearl was incredibly agile and Amethyst was surprisingly strong; but it was late at night and all three were tired, Garnet was still injured from the fight earlier and from jumping out of a moving vehicle because she didn't like the music, and Lapis was stronger than she looked.   
Amethyst was still a teenager, which in Pearl and Garnet's eyes meant she was for all practical purposes a child that needed to be protected, and Pearl's skills were more in dodging than actually fighting, so Garnet was taking the brunt of the attacks. But there was only so much she could take.  
One final blow from Lapis's hands hit her in the side, and she fell badly, grunting in pain. She tried to prop herself up with her arms but quickly collapsed back onto the ground. "Greg!" she yelled. "Get help!"  
"I'm on it!" he answered, closing the van door and starting to drive off.   
"No!" yelled Lapis, running in front of the van and forcing him to swerve wildly to avoid her. He drove into a tree and the van rolled over, leaving him to fall onto what used to be the door.  
"Dad!" yelled Steven, running over to him.  
Greg grunted in pain as he crawled out of the van and onto the forest floor.  
"Dad! Dad! Are you OK?"  
He groaned. "Ugh, I think my leg's broken. See, this is why we wear seatbelts, kids."  
Steven frowned, turning to Lapis. "Lapis, I don't want to fight anymore."  
Lapis ignored him, continuing to fight with Pearl and Amethyst.  
"I said, "I DON'T WANNA FIGHT"!" he repeated, running forward and, with surprising strength for a child, pushing Lapis to the ground.  
Lapis gasped in shock, quickly stood up, and ran.  
Now that the fighting was over, Pearl immediately rushed to Garnet's side. "Are you okay? Are you bleeding? Is anything broken?"  
"How are we going to get back home?" asked Amethyst, looking at the broken car.  
"We'll have to walk," said Pearl.  
"I -- I don't know if I can..." muttered Garnet weakly.   
"Okay then, we'll call a taxi now and come back for the van tomorrow."  
Steven stood up. "I'm going after her. Alone."

"Lapis?"  
Lapis turned sharply. "What are you doing here, Steven?"  
Steven looked surprised. "What? I - No! What are you doing here? This thing, the running-away-thing, this is crazy! Can't we work this out? We should be friends. Whoa!"  
Lapis sighed, stepping closer to him. "Don't you know anything, Steven? Your friends, they don't really care about other people. All they care about is themselves. But I never believed in this place..."  
"Wha... ?" he said in surprise, his jaw dropping.  
Lapis didn't seem to notice. "I just want to go home..."  
"I know how important home can be," said Steven reassuringly, trying to comfort her. "But that's why I'm here. You can stay with my family, and that can be your new home."  
She shook her head. "I'm only running away because I don't want to live with them. I want to go to my real home, back in Pakistan."  
He bit his lip. "If you want, I can tell them that. I'm sure if they understand, they'll leave you alone."  
"You -- You really think so?"  
"Yeah, hopefully. Don't worry, I'll go back to them now and tell them that you're going to Pakistan."  
She looked like she was about to cry with joy. "Thank you, Steven!"  
"No prob, Bob."  
"... It's Lapis."  
Steven chuckled. "Yeah."  
"Okay. Bye!" she said, and ran off for the last time.

"You just let her go?!" choked Pearl.  
"Well, she said she was going back to her home in Pakistan."  
"Steven!" snapped Pearl. "She's homeless! How is she going to get the money for a plane ticket to Pakistan?!"  
"Wait," Steven asked in confusion. "you need a plane to get to Pakistan? Wait, where actually is Pakistan?"  
"The Indian subcontinent," answered Connie.  
"Where's that?"  
"South Asia."  
"Where's that?"  
 _"...Southern...Asia..."_ answered Connie, barely resisting the urge to facepalm.  
"It's west of Southeast Asia," added Pearl.  
Amethyst sighed. "We'd better get going. Who has money for a cab?"  
"My wallet's in the van..." muttered Greg.  
"I left my purse at home," said Pearl.  
"So did I." said Garnet.  
Amethyst rolled her eyes, taking her wallet out of her back pocket. "Fine, I'll pay with my allowance, but someone had better pay me back soon. Greg, you call."

She just wanted to go home.  
She didn't know how she would get there, but she knew she had to go home.  
But she had no money and no relatives or friends she could stay with, so she had no choice but to sleep on the street for the first few nights.   
Until she realized a woman was standing over her -- a masculine-looking, muscular dark-skinned woman with long, messy blonde hair, covered in tattoos and wearing an orange shirt with dark red jeans.  
"Hey, a girl like you is way too pretty to be on the street."  
She stood up, startled.  
"Hey, don't worry, I ain't gonna hurt you. Hmm...I'll let you stay at my house if you agree to be my girlfriend."  
It was a crazy and disgusting suggestion, but when you're lost, homeless and desperate to get money for a plane ticket, you'll take anything. "Okay....I'm Lapis. Lapis Lazuli."  
She held out her hand. The stranger shook it, grinning, and said, _"Jasper."_


	8. Space Race

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pearl tells Steven about how she used to live in the Philippines, and Steven decides he's building a plane to get her back there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I severely underestimated how much more time I would have to write now that I'm not at school. Like...I woke up at 8, and it's 11 now in my timezone, and I technically started this chapter last night but I only did it for 20 minutes. Which means that I could realistically post 2 chapters a day for the next two weeks. But I'm not going to make a commitment like that, I'll get stressed over it and some episodes will take longer than others. So for the next two weeks...updates daily-ish?

"Guys, can you help me with my school assignment?"  
Pearl looked up happily. "Of course, Steven! What's the assignment?"  
Steven blushed. "Well, I was actually hoping Garnet could help me..."  
"Okay." said Garnet.  
Pearl frowned. "Why do you want her help and not mine?"  
"Umm..." he mumbled, trying to subtly get Garnet to understand what he was trying to communicate without noticing, but it is hard to nonverbally communicate complex ideas such as 'It's about an old special interest of hers and I'm scared she'll get waaaaay too into it and do the whole project for me'.  
"Oh," said Amethyst bluntly. "Lemme guess, it's about an old special interest of hers and you're scared she'll get waaaaay too into it and do the whole project for you?"  
He facepalmed. Pearl glared at Amethyst. "Oh, trust me, I won't do it all for him. What's it about, Steven?"  
He sighed. "The Philippines."  
She chuckled. "Steven, I can help you with that, but we'll have to do a lot of research -- It was my special interest when I was thirteen, but I haven't actually been there in a long time."  
"Can't you go back?" he asked.  
"No." said Garnet bluntly.  
"It's fine." She chuckled. "I'll always have my memories of the Philippines. But now I'm here. In America. Forever."  
"With me!" said Steven.  
"Right, with you. It really is incredible there, though. I wish you could see it, Steven."

 _Crying Waffle started crying. Crying Pair joined in. Sad Apple and Spilled Milk cried._  
_"Stay tuned for another episode of Crying Breakfast Friends!"_  
"Yeesh," muttered Greg. "I must be getting old. I used to like cartoons."  
"Hey, Dad," asked Steven. "did you know Pearl used to live in the Philippines?"  
Greg chuckled. "Yeah. She used to tell me and Rose about it all the time, son."  
"I think Pearl really misses living there." He gasped. "Dad, can you help me build a plane?"  
Greg rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "You know, that might be a little outside my skill set. How 'bout a bunk bed with wings? I could probably do that."  
"No way! We could totally build a plane!" He stood up on a chair. "People have done it before, and we're people!"  
"We _are_ people." said Greg.  
"And Pearl would love it so much to go to the Philippines again."  
Greg sighed. "Sure. Why not? How hurt could we get?"

Greg sighed as he looked around the barn. "My aunt and uncle had a great love for aviation and each other. They cherished the years they spent together, and they held on to every belonging they ever owned, kind of like me and my storage shed. I'm starting to think our family has a problem."  
"This is great!" yelled Steven. "I hereby declare this barn to be Universe & Universe's Universal Air Travel HQ!"

"Okay, now!" said Steven, lifting his hands.  
Pearl raised an eyebrow. ""UUU Air Travel"? What is this?"  
"We built a plane!"  
"A plane?"  
"A plane to get you back to the Philippines!" He gestured towards a wooden box with paper wings lazily glued onto the side.  
Pearl sighed. "A plane."  
"Yeah! A plane!"  
"Steven," she said, trying not to facepalm. "that thing is not getting us anywhere near the Philippines."  
"It is!" declared Steven. "Watch this!"  
Greg pushed the 'plane' down a hill, and the three watched as it slowly fell apart on the way down before hitting a rock and completely breaking.  
Pearl frowned. "I think your calculations may have been off."  
"Well," said Greg. "they can't be off if you don't do any."  
She sighed, gesturing to the drawings on the chalkboard. "Did you really think this was gonna work?"  
Steven nodded.  
She rolled her eyes, taking a piece of chalk and starting to draw.  
"Here, look. You need smooth, curving surfaces. Otherwise, you're never gonna get enough speed to stay in the air. Probably swept-back wings for supersonic flight, airtight cockpit with the ejector seat, and we'll need some serious engines, or maybe rockets would be better."  
"I vote rockets!" yelled Steven.  
Greg's eyes widened. "Whoa, whoa. Hold on a sec. We're not actually talking about building something like this, right?"  
"What?! This?" She laughed. "Of course not. That would be ridiculous. I mean, yes, theoretically, it's not a stretch. You've got plenty of spare parts here, albeit for incredibly primitive propulsion-based air travel. The idea is ludicrous. It would never work, although... several humans, a monkey, and a dog did make it into space. I don't know why I've never even thought of it before. This could actually work!"  
"Uh..."  
"I hear what you're saying, and I agree— it would be incredibly dangerous; a fool's errand. This chair is disgusting. But aren't the true fools the ones who don't seize an opportunity, despite all the inherent risks? And I'd be able to show Steven my old home! And maybe just for a second, from a distance, I could see what's been going on without me. All right! Let's do it!"  
Steven grinned. "UUU Air Travel, G-O-O-O-O-O!"

"Ugh!" yelled Steven, watching as their second attempt at a plane broke into pieces. "Whoo!"  
Greg frowned. "Was it supposed to fall apart like that? he asked, sounding concerned.  
"Don't worry," assured Pearl. "This was just to test my engine concept. I'll work out the kinks in the next one."  
"Hang on. Hang on. Next one?!"  
She ignored him. "Is there a shop in town that carries F-1 single-nozzle liquid-fueled rockets?"  
"You really are serious!"  
"Of course! We're also going to need a passport for Steven so he doesn't get in trouble."  
"Whoa. You are not taking him to the Philippines."  
"Yes, I am."  
"No! It's completely impossible!"  
"But why?" protested Steven. "This is why we founded Universe & Universe."  
"That was just for fun! I didn't realize you were serious!"  
"But-"  
"We can't build a plane! It's completely impossible!"  
"Yes we can!"  
Greg sighed. "As C.E.O. and Supreme Commander, I hereby ground Steven and cancel this mission."  
"Aw, man!" said Steven. "Stupid company by-laws."  
"Hey!" snapped Pearl. "Who made you C.E.O.!?"  
Greg tilted his head towards Steven. "He did."  
"Fine. If neither of you will help, I'll just do it by myself— Not like it'll be much different."  
Steven gasped. "Pearl!"  
Greg sighed, patting his son on the back. "I'm sorry, bud. Sometimes you just got to know when to bail."

It was the middle of the night.  
Greg had long since insisted that Steven go back to the Beach House and go to bed, and once the cold of the night had become unbearable Pearl had taken the stuff she was using back too.  
She didn't sleep.  
Pearl's room was next door to Steven's, and the walls were very thin, so it was virtually impossible for Steven to sleep if Pearl wasn't sleeping.  
It was around one in the morning when the sound of wood falling apart and Pearl yelling out in frustration. He sighed, getting out of bed and shoving his door open. When he entered Pearl's room, not much had changed from when they were in the barn hours before -- she was still wearing the same clothes, she clearly hadn't brushed her hair, and she seemed to have moved everything in the barn back her room.  
"Gah!" she yelled as the cardboard wings fell off her latest attempt at a plane, and at last she collapsed to her knees, tears falling down her cheeks.  
"Pearl..." Steven mumbled nervously, walking inside.  
She ignored him. He sat down next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Pearl...I'm really sorry, Pearl, but you're not going to be able to build a real plane. It was a silly idea. I thought we could get it to work, but I was wrong."  
"I know," she sobbed. "I just...I've been thinking..." She sniffled, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "He...I never got a chance to tell him...He never knew I was a girl."  
"What?" he asked softly, shuffling closer to her. "Pearl, who are you talking about? Who's 'he'?"  
"My...My dad, back in the Philippines," she explained. "He...He loved me, he was always there for me, he cared about me...I just wish he could have known the real me. He died when I was six, and then I had to come here with my mother. She hated me."  
He frowned. "She can't have hated you. I'm sure she loved you deep down."  
She shook her head. "Oh, Steven, you wouldn't understand...She used to always yell at me, and say horrible things about me, and hit me for being autistic or acting like a girl after I told her I was transgender. I ran away from her and moved in with Garnet as soon as I turned eighteen, just to get away from her. I've...I've wanted to go back to my home in the Philippines, to meet up with my dad's side of the family, but I've never been able to get enough money for a plane ticket."  
"Well," said Steven. "maybe we'll be able to raise money for it one day."  
"Maybe," she agreed. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have told you all this."  
"I'm used to it. I'm sorry I couldn't help you go to the Philippines. We'll get there someday— I promise."  
"You know, I think I'd rather be here in America."  
"With me!"  
"Yeah. With you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, apparently Asia is Homeworld now.


	9. Warp Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven sees someone at the train station and goes insane trying to convince his family that there is something unusual about her, despite the fact that the train station is a public place and it would be incredibly unrealistic for there to be nobody else there.

"I can't believe that went so well!  
Amethyst nodded, "That was kinda great when you hit it with your spear and it went, like, "bing-bong!""  
Pearl blushed. "And the way you were circling around it? Almost looked like strategy."  
"Well, you know, I can do that stuff, too."  
"Wait up!" panted Steven. "Sorry I couldn't help much, I think the flowers made me—" He violently sneezed into Garnet's hip. "Sorry, Garnet."  
"I'll live."  
Pearl frowned. "Oh, Steven, you're supposed to sneeze into your antecubital fossa."  
"My what?"  
"Your... this thing." She held up her arm, pointing to her inner elbow.   
He rolled his eyes and looked around. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a short blonde girl in a green outfit running. He turned to see her properly, but she was running too fast for him to make out her features. All he could tell was that she was carrying something, but it was impossible to tell exactly what.  
"Steven!" snapped Pearl, grabbing his arm. "Don't get distracted!"  
"We need to be quick," said Garnet. "or we'll miss our train."  
"You guys, I saw something out there!"  
"What?" asked Pearl.  
"There was someone there, a little girl!"  
Pearl raised an eyebrow. "Steven, this is a public train station. Of course there was someone there, there's people everywhere."  
"Yeah, but I think there was something weird about her! C'mon, let's go talk to her!"  
"There's nothing to worry about, Steven." said Garnet. "Come on, we're going to miss the train."

Steven was forcing himself not to fall asleep, Amethyst was known for her midnight snacks, and Steven's room was near the kitchen.  
It was inevitable.  
It was quite a shock when he heard the refridgerator door open, so he was relieved when he got up and found it was just Amethyst. "Hey, Steven! Want some macaroni cheese?"  
Steven sighed. Amethyst closed the refridgerator and started to leave, but he hurriedly grabbed her arm. "W-wait! I can't sleep."  
"Why?" she asked, grinning. "Are you scared of that girl you saw coming right into the house and attacking you in your sleep?!  
"... No..."  
"Oh, good! Good. Nighty night! Don't let the station monster bite! Pffft!"  
Steven swore she heard laughing as she went back into her room. He sighed. "Looks like I'm not sleeping tonight." he muttered, reloading his water gun.

"Steven~ We've got a surprise for you..."  
"Aah! Aghh!" yelled Steven, instinctively shooting.  
Pearl yelped out as the water sprayed onto her, falling to the floor. Steven looked up. "Oh, Pearl."  
Garnet was standing next to Pearl, wearing oven mitts and holding a tray of cookies. "Now you're not getting any cookies."  
"Cookies?!" exclaimed Amethyst. "I'll take 'em!"  
Garnet whistled, and Amethyst grabbed the tray, munching on the cookies.  
"I'm sorry, Pearl," said Steven. "I just, I guess I didn't..."  
"Didn't sleep." finished Garnet.  
Steven yawned. "Maybe."  
"Oh, Steven!" exclaimed Pearl, wiping water out of her eye. "This isn't about the girl you think you saw at the train station yesterday, is it?"  
"But I knew there was something off about her! She was carrying this weird thing! And as soon as she saw us, she ran away!"  
Pearl sighed, putting her hands on Steven's cheeks. "Listen. She was probably just running because she was close to missing her train. It most likely had nothing to do with us. Do you understand?"   
He looked away.  
"Steven, nod in agreement if you understand. Nod in agreement—"  
"I'm confident Pearl is right." said Garnet. "But if it'll make you feel better, we can just go check."

"See, this is the exact part of the station where we were yesterday when you were distracted. But wait! There's nobody here!"  
Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Look, Pearl's right, like usual. Ugh! You get used to it."  
Garnet placed a hand on Steven's head reassuringly. "We're safe."  
Steven sighed. "Well, I guess so."  
"Oh, man!" exclaimed Amethyst. "Finally! That took all day."  
"It was important to make Steven feel secure." said Garnet.  
"Yes," agreed Pearl. "Steven feels much better now."  
Steven glared, staring at the three. "I'm a little tired... of you guys telling me how I feel! I know there was something up with her!"  
"And I know there wasn't!" snapped Pearl. "You don't tell me - what I already know!"  
"Why is it so hard to just "listen to Steven"? You don't care what I have to say! You just want to do it your way!"  
Garnet and Amethyst looked at each other, then at the two arguing.  
"Uh," said Amethyst. "this is new. I kind of like it."  
"Steven, you just don't know what you're talking about."  
"It sounds like, maybe, you don't know what I'm talking about!"  
Garnet quickly got in between them before the argument could escalate. "Okay, Steven, that's enough. Let it go."

"Hey, dude."  
Steven looked up at Amethyst, distracted.  
"You still on about that girl at the station?"  
He shrugged.  
"Uh, what'cha eating?"  
"Macaroni and nothing."  
"Ugh. Whatever." She started walking outside. "We can hang out again when you stop being such a sad sack." She closed the door.  
"Ugh! Why am I doing this? Fine. I give up! Steven was wrong and everyone else was right! There was nothing weird about the girl at the station!"  
Then he looked out the window and saw it.  
A small, light green water balloon, that was it. But it looked familiar. Like he had seen someone carrying it.  
The girl at the station.  
He ran outside to get it.   
"You were the thing at the station! Amethyst, come here! Oof! I knew it! I did see something! Guys! I was right! Waah! Guys! Come on! Check this out!"  
Suddenly, the balloon exploded, covering him in teal goop. He rolled his eyes, brushing it off of his arms and face, but it wasn't long before he saw another one in the distance.  
He followed them.

He followed them until it was dark out, his clothes were soaked with goop, until he finally realized where he was:  
The station.  
It was the middle of winter, the middle of the night, and covered in cold, wet goop.  
Well, actually, it was just late evening, and it wasn't the middle of winter, just a little chilly, but eight-year-olds can be overdramatic.  
He collapsed onto the ground of the station. "I was right. And now I'm gonna die... a tired, frozen little... sad sack."  
"Steven."  
He looked up. It was Garnet. "I followed you here. Pearl and Amethyst are coming. These water balloons here... So, that's what the girl was carrying."  
"I don't care about that!"  
"I do." She adjusted her sunglasses, which she was still wearing even though it was dark out. "I should've listened to you." She smiled. "You're a part of the family, too."  
Pearl started to catch up to them. Steven," she said hurriedly. "are you okay?! Garnet said you were leaving and -- Uh... What's up with that?" she asked, looking at the balloons.  
Amethyst caught up with them, panting.  
"I don't know what they're for," answered Steven. "but they're full of this weird goop for some reason. There were tons of them!"  
"Weird," said Amethyst. "Maybe we should steal them!"  
"Guys!" exclaimed Steven. "Look! It's the girl I saw!"  
He pointed, and sure enough it was the exact same girl, with the same blonde hair and green outfit. Garnet grabbed him, along with Pearl and Amethyst, and pulled them behind a garbage bin so she wouldn't se them.  
"Hmm," said the girl.  
Now that she was closer to them and not moving, Steven could properly make out her features. Her blonde hair was around shoulder-length and impossibly messy, somehow looking somewhat triangular in the way it stuck up, with her bangs held in plane with a triangular green hair clip. Her eyes looked green, but in the light it was impossible to know if they were really green or that was just what they looked like behind the slightly yellow-tinted lenses of the glasses she was wearing.    
"Who is that?" whispered Pearl.  
"No idea." answered Garnet.  
The girl held a phone up to her mouth. "Log date 3 1 2. This is Peridot, performing Crystal City maintenance check."  
"Peridot!" exclaimed Steven. "Her name is Peridot!" Pearl and Amethyst quickly covered her mouth.  
"All 79 water balloons deployed and accounted for." She looked around, then saw the burst balloons and the goop. "This site may have been compromised."  
It was only another few seconds before a train arrived, and Peridot boarded it, making it impossible for them to follow her.  
A look of dread came over Pearl's face. "They're coming back! I can't do this! Not again!"  
"We're dead!" exclaimed Amethyst. "We are so dead!"  
Steven looked around, confused. "Who was that? Where did she come from? What was she trying to do?"  
"It doesn't matter." answered Garnet, grabbing the bin they had been hiding behind. With a little force she pulled it out of the concrete and threw it onto the train tracks bellow.  
"She's not coming back!"

 


	10. Alone Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Crystal Gems make a new friend.  
> I would make a pun here, but part of the subject of this chapter is not funny, period.

It was the weekend.   
More specifically, it was a Sunday, the day after they had seen Peridot.   
The four had arrived home late at night, and with the adrenaline rush that the encounter had given them none of them could get to sleep very quickly, so they all ended up sleeping in for half of the day and spending the other half trying to recover from the events of the previous day.  
Eventually they had come to the conclusion that Garnet throwing the bin onto the train tracks was more likely to cause media outrage than actually stop any sort of train, but that there were no cameras to see her doing it, so the police would assume that the bin had been thrown by the same person who had left water balloons everywhere.  
Pearl frowned. "Are you sure your arm's okay, Garnet? I mean, you hurt it pretty badly while you were fighting Lapis, and then you had to throw that bin..."  
"I'm fine." answered Garnet as she struggled to balance a plate of food in one hand.   
Pearl raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"  
"My arm is fine." repeated Garnet, trying and failing to put the plate down on the table without making a mess, cleaning up the mess with one hand and then trying to use a knife and fork with one hand.  
"If you insist..."  
"Woah, G-Squad," said Amethyst, not even looking up from her phone. "do you want me to, like, get you some ice or something?"  
Garnet pretended not to hear. "It's getting late. I wonder what Steven's up to."

"Wait, so she actually threw the bin?"  
Steven nodded. "But don't tell anyone or she might get in trouble."  
Connie sighed. "Geez, I saw that on the news. So, do you guys, like, fight people all the time?"  
"Nah, not really. Mostly we just get into really intense arguments over Mario Kart and Just Dance."  
"Wait, you play Just Dance?"  
"Yeah, but I'm not very good. Garnet always wins."  
Connie blushed. "Well, I think it's amazing you are able to dance with them at all. I could never do that."  
"Huh? What do you mean?"  
She rubbed her arm nervously, avoiding eye contact. "I've never danced in front of anyone before."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah." She looked up at the sky. "There was a dance at my school, and I was really excited about it...but, I just couldn't bring myself to go." She looked down, closing her eyes. "I just couldn't stop thinking about everyone staring at me."  
"Well... no one's staring right now?"  
She looked up.  
"Um. You are."  
He looked away, blushing. "Oh...yeah. Oh, one sec."  
He reached into his pocket, taking out his smartphone, fiddling with it for a few seconds before placing it in the sand. Music started to play.   
Steven stood up, taking a few steps back. "So, what I was trying to -" he covered his eyes with his hand - "- say was..." His face still covered, he held out his hand, blushing. "... come dance with me."  
She hesitated, then took his hand. He peeked through his fingers and smiled at her. Blushing, she smiled back. He pulled her forward, and they started to dance.  
It was great fun, and they were more running around happily than actually dancing, but all good things must come to an end.  
They bumped into each other, and Steven tripped. Connie caught him, and he found himself in her arms. They both giggled, blushing furiously.  
But Steven was heavy, and Connie wasn't strong.   
Eventually, she dropped him and fell onto him, blushing even harder as she awkwardly stood up. "Sorry..."  
"It's fine," he muttered, rubbing his head.   
They looked around, dazed, and saw me.  
Oh yeah, this is one of those stories where it turns out the narrator was secretly a character in the story the entire time.  
I suppose I'd better tell you some stuff about myself. My birth name is Stephanie, but I prefer if you call me Stevonnie. I'm nonbinary and I use they/them pronouns. I'm half white and half Indian. I have an average build and curly, dark brown hair. At the time of this story that I'm telling you, when I met Steven and Connie, I was fourteen, my hair was so long that it almost reached my knees, and I was wearing a teal tank top and jean shorts.  
Connie pointed at me, confused. "Who's she?"  
Steven shrugged. "I don't think she's from Beach City. I haven't seen her around."  
Normally, I would have corrected them on pronouns -- I happened to know that they were accepting of trans people in general, so I could assume that they would switch pronouns if I came out to them. But I knew this would not be our last meeting, and at the moment I had more important things to worry about, so I walked up to them.  
"Hey, Connie," I said. "Can you, uhh, help me out a little?"  
She raised an eyebrow. "How do you know my name?"  
"I work in mysterious ways. Trust me, it'll all make sense someday. Anyway, could you gimme a hand here?"  
She didn't look like she fully trusted me yet, which was understandable, but she didn't pursue the matter of me knowing her name. "Okay...what do you need help with?"  
I felt my cheeks going red. "Umm...well, the problem is...Japan's attacking and I don't have supplies..."  
She stared at me. "What?"  
I rolled my eyes at her obliviousness. Lowering my voice a little and blushing harder, I said, "That means I got my period."  
She blushed, too, and muttered, "Umm...Geez, I'm really sorry, but I can't help you there...Uhh, there's a house just over there on the beach that has, like, three girls, so I'm sure they can help you."  
"Thanks," I murmured. "Hey, Steven, could you take me to your house?"  
He stared at me. "How do you know my name? How did you know the beach house is where I live? And what's a period?"  
"It's the little dot at the end of a sentence," I answered. "So, could you take me to your house?"

"What's a period?" repeated Steven.  
"Steven," said Garnet. "it's past your bedtime."  
"But we have a guest!"  
"That doesn't mean you get to stay up late. Go on, go to bed."  
He pouted, stomping off to his bedroom. I blushed, turning to Amethyst. "Thank you so much, I really owe you my life..."  
"No drama," she answered, playing a game on her phone.   
"No, really," I said gratefully. "This is my first period, so it's kinda a big deal, especially since I'm nonbinary..."  
She raised an eyebrow. "Dude, shouldn't you have gotten it ages ago? I mean, you're like, sixteen..."  
"I'm fourteen," I mumbled, slightly hurt.  
"Well, you look sixteen."  
I shook my head. "Ugh, thanks anyway. I'm going to the Big Donut."

"No -"  
"- Sure!"  
Sadie Lars -  
"- I don't - I don't think that's -"  
"- Seriously -"  
"- Okay! -"  
"- He's very nice."  
Lars and Sadie were arguing when I walked in, as usual. They seemed shocked when they turned to face me. Lars turned bright red and stammered, "Ha- ha- how can I - help... me?"  
I couldn't understand why they were so shocked. "Two doughnuts. Please."  
Lars reached into the case and dropped a bag of two doughnuts on the counter. I moved, holding some bills and coins. Lars nervously stared at me, looking unsure.  
"What do I owe you?" I asked.  
"Uh- ah- uhhhh-"  
Sadie, blushing furiously, slammed her hands into the counter. Lars and I stared at her in surprise. "Oh nothing!" she said hurriedly, avoiding eye contact and pushing my hand away. "It's on the house."  
"Really?"  
"Mmm-hmm," they said, nodding their heads in unison.  
I shrugged. "Okay."  
I took the donut bag and started to walk outside. I paused at the door, looking back at them over my shoulder.  
"But just so you know, that isn't a very sound business practice."

I sat on the bench, eating my donuts, when I looked up and saw a familiar face. "Oh hey, Sour...-faced stranger...Wow, cool pants!"  
"Cool." He looked away from me. "Rave tonight." He handed me a flier.  
I quickly read it. "Like, a dance?"  
Sour Cream blushed. "Yeah, at the warehouse. I'm DJ-ing, and a bunch of my friends from the internet are gonna be there. There's gonna be free... glow sticks..."  
"Yes! I'll definitely be there! Yes. Thanks!"

I walked up to the warehouse, taking a moment at the partially collapsed wall to scope the rave. About a dozen people were dancing. DJ Sour Cream was playing chiptune music. Ronaldo was freestyling. I noticed a man with short brown hair leaning against the wall and looking bored. He was wearing a purplish-brown jacket with skinny jeans and a teal scarf. He noticed Ronaldo's dancing.  
"Yeesh," he muttered, and walked away.  
Jenny and Buck were dancing. DJ Sour Cream was doing his thing. I put on a brave face and step forward. I walked up to Jenny and Buck and began to dance. Jenny and Buck stopped dancing and backed away, but I didn't notice and continued to dance fantastically.  
Until I stopped and noticed everyone in the room staring at me.  
I laughed nervously. "I- thought this was a dance party. Why isn't anyone else dancing?"  
Everyone was speechless.  
"This is what being cool at a cool dance is, right? This is how it's supposed to be... Why isn't it like it's supposed to be?"

"Hey, baby.  
I looked up; the boy with the teal scarf was standing over me, his hand on my hip.  
He leaned in, offering me his hand. "Get ready," He slid around me. "it's Kevin Time."  
An arrogant smirk on his face, he started dancing, inching closer to me with every second, as if he thought we were meant to be dancing together or something, until I couldn't take it anymore. I ran outside, leaning against the wall to catch my breath.  
He followed me.  
"Not tonight," he said, smirking. "Hey baby, why'd you leave me on the dance floor?"  
I bit my lip. "I don't -" I pushed his filthy hands away from me. "I don't want to dance anymore."  
"What are you talking about?" He brushed his fingers through his bangs. "We're the best thing that's ever happened to this place. Come back out with me."  
"Why should I?"  
He rolled his eyes, sighing like he was a kindergarten teacher and I was his student. "Because we're angels walking among garbage people. We're perfect for each other."  
"How can you say that!? You don't even know me!"  
"Oh, whoa. I'm just looking for a dance! Don't get crazy."  
"No one is crazy. I just don't like feeling alone here!"  
"If you're so lonely, then dance with me!"  
"Ugh! Fine." I glared. "You wanna dance? Let's go."  
I grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the dance floor.  
"And it's Stevonnie; I am _not_ your baby."  
I started dancing aggressively, punching and kicking in the air and hoping I would 'accidentally' hit him. He turned blue in the face, but tried to look composed.  
"Okay, bring it back, girl."  
I ignored him, and continued doing exactly what I was doing, until Jenny Pizza tapped me on the shoulder and pulled me aside.   
"Hey, umm...I don't really know you, but I felt like I should tell you something...You've got a bit of a bloodstain on your jeans."  
I felt myself going red. Behind me, I heard Kevin's disgusted voice. "Eww, that's gross! I'm out!"  
A part of me was glad he was going to leave me alone, but I was still embarrassed as hell. This was my first period, so I had basically no idea what to do, and I was tempted to just run outside and burst into tears.  
"Hey, don't worry about it," muttered Jenny. "It happens to everyone."  
She took off her jacket, handing it to me. "Here, tie this around your waist. Nobody'll see. Wanna come down to my place to clean up?"  
I nodded weakly. "I'd...I'd like that."


	11. On the Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amethyst shows Steven where she came from.

"Wow. How are they gonna get out of this one?  
He turned the page.  
"Oh, that's how."  
The door swung open. Steven looked up excitedly. "You're back!"  
He saw Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst, and then noticed the small, greenish objects in their hands. "Hey, it's those water balloons from the station. Why'd you bring them home?"  
"We have to try and find out what the goo in them is made of," explained Pearl.  
Amethyst laughed. "Hey Steven, check this out!" She popped the balloon with her hands, sending goo everywhere. "Kabloosh!"  
"Amethyst, please!" yelled Pearl. "This is serious! We need to understand these things, not squash them. If Yellow Diamond's workers are trying to return to Beach City... *THEY HAVE TO BE STOPPED!"  
"Pearl," said Garnet. "calm down. We're still cut off. We're safe."  
"Safe from what?" asked Steven. "What does Peridot want to do?"  
Pearl sighed. "Steven, a very long time ago, some people tried to do something... very bad. It was something that would have damaged many people's lives. Some people, like your mother, Garnet, and myself, felt that this was unfair to the life that already existed here, and so we swore to never let them continue with their... work. Even if it meant-" she groaned as Amethyst glared and popped another balloon beneath her foot -- "Even if it meant I could never go home."  
"Pearl chose us." explained Garnet. "She ran away from home so that she could support our cause."  
"Wait a sec," said Steven. "so that means... you're just like the No Home Boys!"  
"The wha--?"  
"The No Home Boys! It's a book series about these boys who have no home. So they travel around the country, living in boxcars, and riding river rafts, solving mysteries! They had a successful run, until the disastrous graphic novel adaptation. But my favorite story is this classic one where the no home boys are chased across the countryside by a mysterious pursuer, which turns out to be the very fear resting within themselves."  
Pearl sighed. "Steven, I am not like the no home boys. I am literally standing in your home right now."  
She and Garnet walked away, leaving Amethyst and Steven alone.  
"Aw, I wish, I was a no home boy. No past, no future, just the open road!"  
"Yeah," agreed Amethyst. "sounds like fun. Let's do it."  
"Really?!"  
"Yeah. Let's run!"  
Steven grinned. "Are you serious? Are we going!"  
"Uh, yeah! I've got it all planned out. You just go to your room and pack your bag and I'll handle the travel."  
Steven nodded excitedly, running to his room to pack his bindle. As he went through his possessions to decide what to bring, he started to sing.  
 _"It's time to get moving, time for us to have some fun._  
 _There's no time to hang around, our adventure's just begun._  
 _We'll be thinking 'bout our friends as we chase the setting sun."_  
Amethyst stuck her head in the door, a fanny pack around her waist, to join him in the last line.  
 _"But we're leaving them behind, we're on the run."_

It was surprisingly easy. Amethyst's school friends, Jenny, Sour Cream and Buck Dewey, had agreed to drive them out of Beach City and to the station, and from there it was just a matter of getting on a train and hoping there were no ticket inspectors.  
As they sat on the train, Steven quietly started humming his song again. Amethyst frowned, looking out the window sadly, and started a song of her own.   
_"I don't care about what all the others say._  
 _Well I guess there are some things that will just never go away._  
 _I wish that I could see that there's no better place than home."_  
 _"But home's a place that I have never known."_ they sang together.  
 _"That's why we're on the run..."_  
Steven sighed as his stomach growled. "My bindle couldn't fit any food."  
"Why didn't you bring your backpack?" asked Amethyst.  
"It wouldn't fit in my bindle?" He sighed, lying down on the seat opposite to Amethyst. "Maybe I can just sleep this hunger off. Just like the no home boys."  
His stomach growled again. He frowned. "Amethyst, I want to go home now."  
She ignored him.  
"Amethyst?" he said uncertainly, standing up and sitting next to her. "I'm done pretending to be a no home boy."  
"Not me."  
"I'm sure Garnet and Pearl are worried sick about us. Wondering when we're coming home."  
"That's not my home."  
"But— Oh, that's right. Your old foster home."  
He had been sure that that was what she meant. He had known for a while now that Amethyst had been put into foster care for some reason when she was two, and few months later she had been adopted by Rose, while her older sister stayed in a foster home. So he was surprised when she glared and yelled, "That's not my home either!"  
"Then where are you from?"  
"I'll show you."

"Here we are!" She chuckled. "Welcome to my old parents' home! What do you think?"  
"Uh... It's great!"  
Steven stared blankly at the house in front of him. He found it quite hard to believe that anyone had lived in it at all since Amethyst had been adopted by Rose. The paint was peeling off of the walls, the windows were boarded up, and there seemed to be a large hole in the wall.  
"Sure is!" said Amethyst. She grabbed his arm. "Come on!"

"What is this place?"  
"It's kinda where I'm from."  
A look of confusion came over Steven's face. "But I thought Rose adopted you?"  
"Yeah, but when I was just a toddler, I used to live here." She gasped. "Check it out!" She ran over to a large grey couch in the middle of the room. "Oh, man. I missed this guy. Aww! It's my climbing couch."  
Steven awkwardly waved to the couch. "Uh, hello!"  
"And over there— That's the sitting couch. And that was the one doll that I kicked into two dolls!"  
"Uh, how long did you live here?"  
"For a while, I guess, um, at least until they took my parents away."  
She continued walking around the house until she found a small, round table in the kitchen, with chairs around it so that there was only a small space through which one could reach the table. She crouched down on the floor and crawled through the space.  
"Hey, Steven. Look. Here's the hole I hid in!"  
"Hang on. What?"  
"It's my hole." She chuckled. "Look— It's me-siiiiiized." She sighed. "Still got that good hole smell."  
"You hid under that table?"  
"Yeah, dude --"  
"There you are."  
Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Great," she muttered, coming out from under the table. "Here comes the fun police."  
Pearl walked into view. "Garnet said you'd be here, but I didn't want to believe it. Amethyst, what were you thinking bringing Steven to an abandoned home!?"  
"I don't know," said Amethyst. "We were in the neighborhood."  
"Pearl?" asked Steven. "Did Amethyst really live here?"  
Pearl bit her lip. "How much did you tell him?"  
"What?" snapped Amethyst. "You mean about the bad thing? How this bad place is where bad people came to find more bad people? Is that what you're talking about?"  
"There were other people here?!"  
"Amethyst, he's not ready!"  
"Oh," said Amethyst. "but don't worry, Steven. Everything's just fine now."  
"Amethyst," warned Pearl.  
"It all worked out. We won!"  
"Stop."  
"And we shut this place down so everyone would be safe from dangerous orphans like me!  
"Amethyst! That's enough!"  
"Pearl?" asked Steven uncertainly.  
"Steven, I'm sorry. I never wanted you to see this horrible place."  
"Then why don't you just leave!?" snapped Amethyst, throwing a punch at Pearl, who quickly dodged out of the way. "Admit it. I'm just an embarrassment to you!"  
"Amethyst!" yelled Steven. "Wait!"  
Pearl glared, stepping back. "I don't want to fight you."  
"I wouldn't want to fight me neither!"  
She lunged for Pearl again, but Pearl stepped out of the way before the teenager could hit her.  
"You guys, stop it!" called Steven.  
"Stay out of this!"  
A few more dodged punches, a few more useless kicks to the shin, and Pearl sighed. "Amethyst, stop this! You can't hurt me."  
"I... don't... CARE! I'm not gonna let you stand there and remind me of everything I hate about myself!"  
With one final burst of strength, she pushed Pearl violently, and Pearl fell against the wall, whimpering.  
"I never asked for it to be this way." Tears fell down her face. "I never asked to be born!"  
"Amethyst..."  
Steven stood between them, tears in his eyes. "Amethyst, please, no more! I know you're upset, but, I can't bear to watch you two hurt each other."  
Amethyst started to shout something but seemed unable to get the words out. At last, she gave up and stomped off, going back to her hiding place under the table. Steven sighed, crouching between the chairs so he could see her. "Amethyst! Come out!"  
"Go away. I'm bad, and you shouldn't be around me."  
"What? That's ridiculous. Look, I don't know what any of this really means, but I-"  
"Yeah, you don't. 'Cause if you did, you wouldn't be talking to me."  
Steven stood up. "Pearl, get in there. You got to help me."  
"But-"  
"You have to talk to her."  
Pearl sighed, crawling under the table with Amethyst. "Amethyst... Amethyst, I had no idea you've been upset about this."  
"What?! You had no idea!?" She motioned to the house. "This is, like, my entire existence! You want to pretend that none of this ever happened! You think I'm just a big mistake!  
Pearl gasped. "No, no. Amethyst, you're not the mistake. You're just the byproduct of a... big mistake. No, that's not- I... I just never thought of this as you. None of this is your fault. I know your family did some awful things, but you were only two when the authorities found out. You weren't a part of it. I-I'm sorry, Amethyst. I hope you can forgive me. You're the one good thing that came out of this mess. I always thought you were proud of that."  
The two exited the space under the table. Amethyst looked at Pearl for a few seconds, then embraced her in a crushing hug. Pearl hesitated, then returned the hug.  
"Yeah!" yelled Steven. "Now let's go home, so Steven can sleep in a bed."  
They left the house and walked off, completely oblivious to the footsteps behind them.


	12. The Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot comes back to Beach City.  
> She's not alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, my few day hiatus was actually three weeks...

"Give me the --"  
He looked down, staring at the fry bits below his fist, on the counter he was about to pound. "Oh, thanks!"  
A short blonde-haired boy wearing a white tank top shrugged. "Eh, I saw you guys coming."  
Greg frowned. "Are you closing up all by yourself?"  
Peedee nodded."Yeah, it's just me tonight."  
"Wow, that's a lot of responsibility for a kid your age. Your dad must really trust you."  
"Don't patronize me, sir."  
"See you, Peedee!" called Steven as he and his father walked off, towards the beach. "So, like I was saying, Peridot's been sending water balloons here. And when you smash them, they explode into goo!"  
Greg frowned. "That sounds scary. You know, I'm not sure if... Do you ever feel like this Gem stuff is too much for you?"  
"What are you-"  
He was interrupted by the sound of a loud scream, one which sounded disconcertingly similar to Pearl's voice, and he dropped the bag of fry bits in shock.  
"What the hey was that? ... Steven?"  
He looked over towards the beach house, where he knew Pearl and the others would be, and saw an unfamiliar green car driving towards his house. Without thinking, he ran.

"Guys! Did you see that thing?"  
"It's a car," panted Pearl, her face red from hyperventilating. "We have to assume it's Peridot."  
"It might not be," said Amethyst reassuringly, but Pearl was panicking too much to hear her.  
Garnet frowned. "If it is Peridot...I have a feeling she could be dangerous. If she had a car this whole time, she wouldn't be taking the train unless she had a good reason too. So either she needed to do something at the station before, or she's using someone else's car."  
"That means she's not alone!" yelled Pearl, continuing to hyperventilate. "What if she brought her mother? What if she has weapons!"  
"Woah, woah, woah," panted Greg. "There might be strangers coming here with weapons and you expect my son to be helping out?! Come on, Steven, we're getting in the van."  
"But --" protested Steven.  
"No buts, Steven, you could get yourself killed!" He turned to Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst. "We're going. One of you call me when it's safe for Steven to come back."

Steven sighed, riding in the van with his father. " Maybe when Peridot gets here, she'll see how nice all the people are and she won't want to hurt anyone.  
"Just like your mother." answered Greg sadly. He sighed, but Steven seemed curious.  
"Yeah?"  
"Yeah. But these other people aren't like your mother. They aren't like Garnet, Amethyst, or Pearl. They aren't gonna start caring about people now. They didn't the first time they..."  
"The first time they what?"  
Greg blushed. "I mean, it was decades ago! Before I met them! It's-it's not like I was there!" He looked down at his son. "They should be telling you all this stuff but I get it. I mean, they don't want you thinking of them like that!"  
"Like what? Dad, like what?"  
"Like delinquents, Steven! Delinquents who hurt people!"  
"What!?"  
"All they do is try to make up for it. They just can't forgive themselves, you understand? Look, they were doing something awful to the people here and your mother couldn't stand it anymore. She told me that's why she had to turn into a rebel. She gave up everything just to stop what they started here!"  
"So sh-she saved people, that's good!"  
"No such thing as a good fight, kiddo. People's lives were destroyed... If it weren't for their teamwork, man, I don't know." He saw Steven's sad face and added quickly, "B-but hey, let's look on the bright side! We're gonna drive past that waffle place in a couple miles!"  
"We gotta go back! Turn the van around!"  
"No way, I don't want you going back!  
"I know you're just trying to protect me, but I have to protect them! They need me!"  
"I need you too!"  
"Please Dad, what if they get hurt? Dad, turn around! Dad! Turn the van around, please!"  
Greg thought for a moment, then sighed and stepped on the brakes. "Yeah, okay. Just... be careful, or I'm gonna run fresh out of family."  
"Yes!" he yelled. "Thank you Dad!"  
Without even waiting for Greg to turn the van around, he opened the door and ran.

"Come on, pick up..."  
_"You've reached the Maheswaran residence. Please leave a message after the beep. And keep it short."_  
"Hey, Connie, it's Steven. Just... seeing what you were up to. Don't know if you knew, but there's some crazy stuff going on with a green car and we all might die, so, uh, I guess call me back when you get this and talk to you soon! Uh, bye!"

"You came back!" yelled Amethyst, in a mix of surprise, relief and dread.  
"What are you doing?!" choked Pearl. "Get out of here!"  
"But-"  
"It's too late!" yelled Garnet. "Just stay behind us!"  
The green car pulled up next to the beach house and the two front doors swung open, shortly followed by the left door in the back. Out of the door on the passenger side, sure enough, was Peridot.  
The driver was a woman none of them recognized, though they couldn't deny her resemblance to Amethyst. She was tall and muscular, with long blonde hair that was messy just like Amethyst's, and her dark skin was covered in tattoos.  
But Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl didn't care about the new woman, or Peridot. They were too busy staring at the woman who came out of the back door.  
Lapis Lazuli.  
"That's them, all right," said Peridot.  
The stranger rolled her eyes. "This is it?"  
"Jasper!" scolded Peridot, who somehow seemed to have some level of authority over the woman, Jasper, despite Jasper being a good deal older and stronger.  
Jasper sighed, stepping forward. "Looks like another waste of my time... Hey, get over here!"  
She grabbed Lapis's arm and dragged her forward. Lapis wriggled her arm free of Jasper's grip, then gasped aloud as she saw Steven.  
"Lapis!" called Steven.  
Jasper ignored him, turning to Lapis. "This is their base?"  
"Yes..." choked Lapis, as though she was about to cry.  
Garnet glared. "You need to leave immediately!"  
"Yeah, step off!" agreed Amethyst.  
"This is not a Diamond-controlled area!" said Pearl, trying to sound threatening like Garnet and Amethyst, but her voice was breaking as she talked.  
"And neither of you saw Rose Quartz?" mocked Jasper. "Oh, what a shame. I'd hoped to meet her. I was looking forward to beating her into the ground!"  
"Euegh..." mumbled Steven.  
"But this is all that's left of her army?" continued Jasper. "Some lost, defective autist, a puny premature runt, and this shameless display? And who is that?"  
Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl glared in fury as Jasper turned to look at Steven. Jasper stared him up and down, until she realized.  
"This...This thing looks like her. They must be related. Rose, why did you choose to have a child?"  
"Don't hurt him!" gasped Lapis.  
Jasper glared. "You knew about this!"  
"It wasn't relevant to the mission!"  
"Forget about the mission!"  
"What!?" choked Peridot.  
"Yellow Diamond needs to see this... thing."  
"Uh..." muttered Steven.  
Suddenly Jasper leapt for Garnet, pushing her to the ground. Just as Garnet was struggling to get up, Jasper knelt over her, pressing a hand to the side of her neck. Garnet struggled for a second to keep her head up, then went limp. Her sunglasses fell off her face, and her eyes were closed.  
Pearl, nervously, took the sunglasses off of the floor and shoved them into the pocket of Garnet's jeans.  
Then Jasper turned to Steven, but she looked as though she were staring right through him, not seeing him but just looking down at the ground. "I was there, you know? At the first fight for this garbage city. I fought against your little gang. I respected your tactics. But this?"  
She lifted Steven up by his shirt. _"This is sick!"_  
"Unhand him!" commanded Pearl.  
Jasper ignored her. "I don't know what you were planning when you fell pregnant, Rose. But look! Your base is taken. Your friends are ruined. You have failed!"  
Steven struggled to get free of Jasper's grip, shaking in fear. He saw Jasper's fist coming towards his head, and everything went dark.


	13. Jailbreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continued from 'The Return', Steven wakes up in someone else's house and has to find a way out.

"Amethyst? Pearl?"  
His eyelids fluttered open, and he looked around the room, trying to figure out where he was. He seemed to be alone, and he certainly didn't recognize it. The room was completely blank, the walls painted a sickly shade of lime. What was he doing there?  
Suddenly the memories came flooding back. First he remembered Jasper holding him by the shirt and knocking him out. Then, a little before that...there was Lapis, and Peridot, and Amethyst and Pearl looking worried. Then....  
Garnet!  
He remembered the horrifying way her whole body went limp. Had Jasper drugged her somehow? Or had she somehow pressed some sort of pressure point on her neck? Was she okay?  
He gasped. "Garnet! Where are they?"  
He ran towards the door of the room, hearing angry screaming in the background.  
He tried pulling the door open, and discovered a major flaw in Jasper's plan: he had seriously underestimated Steven's ability. Sure, he didn't have the strength to kick the door down with brute force, or the intelligence to pick the lock...but he did have the skill to open the unlocked door.  
He shivered. "I'm out. Woohoo! Okay, where is everybody?"  
He looked down at the corridor, and ran.  
"Gotta find 'em. Gotta find 'em. Gotta find— Oh..."  
He stopped as he passed another door, and heard moaning behind it. He pressed his ear against the wall.  
"Uh... hello? Are... you okay?"  
Frightened panting.  
Suddenly Steven felt something hitting the door, hard, knocking him back a little.  
"Great!" screamed the voice behind the door. "This is just perfect!"  
"Uh, do you need any help?" asked Steven.  
"Gah!" yelled the voice. "Let me out!"  
Then they heard another voice, one coming from further away. A singing voice.  
"Somebody's singing..."  
"Let me out of here!" screamed the voice behind the door. "Please! I need to find Sapphire!"  
"Is she your friend? I'm looking for my friends, too."  
"She's all alone, I need to find her!"  
"Don't worry, we'll find our friends."  
He turned the handle and pushed the door open. Inside he saw a short African-American woman whose reddish-black, vaguely square-shaped afro was tied in place with a maroon ribbon. The woman was wearing a red shirt and brown shorts, and though she did clearly have some muscles, she looked as though she were in her mid forties. Steven privately thought she looked a lot like Garnet.  
"And we'll do it together!" he declared.  
The roman ran out of the room, slid under Steven's arm and ran off.  
"Wait for me!" he called.

"Hey," he panted. "my name's Steven, by the way, what's yours?"  
"Quiet!" snapped the woman. She looked around. "This way!"  
She ran down the hallway, Steven following after her. "How many more people are trapped here?" panted Steven.  
"Don't know. Don't care."  
The singing stopped. Ruby stopped dead. "She stopped singing...Sapphire!"  
They continued running until they saw another door. Ruby didn't even bother trying the handle, just kicking the door open.  
"Oh," she said angrily as she looked inside. "it's just you..."  
Steven looked inside, then gasped. "Lapis!"  
Lapis, who was curled up in the corner of the cell, looked up fearfully. Her face and eyes were red, as though she had been crying.  
"Lapis, I can get you out."  
"Stop!" yelled Lapis, her voice breaking as though she was about to burst into tears.  
"It's okay. I can—"  
"No! I don't want your help. Things are bad enough as it is. I've already made too much trouble. They're going to decide what to do with us."  
"I don't have time for this!" yelled Ruby, running down the hallway.  
"Wait!" called Steven, but it was no use.  
Lapis sighed. "Steven, whatever you're doing just stop. If we do everything they say they might go easy on us."  
"But they're... mean! They hurt my friends, they hurt my face! They've got you here!"  
"That's why we can't fight them."  
"That's why we have to fight them."  
She turned away.  
Steven anxiously glanced in the direction Ruby had ran off in. "I'll come back for you..." he said, and followed her.

The singing started again, and Steven gasped. Then he saw two familiar figures, and quickly ducked into an empty room to hide.  
"We can't leave yet!"  
He peeked around the door as Peridot and Jasper.  
"The whole point of coming here was to deploy the Cluster!"  
Jasper punched the wall.  
"Stop singing!" she commanded before turning to Peridot. "Rose Quartz's child takes priority. Call your mother and get her to bring a van here."  
Peridot turned and walked away, grumbling under her breath. Steven crept out of his hiding place and turned a corner to get out of Jasper's sight before he could notice, then saw another door.  
Not just that. He could hear the singing again, and this time he was sure it was coming from behind that very door.  
He pressed his head against the door. "Hey, I like your song. Are you Sapphire?"  
"You escaped..." said the voice.  
He turned the doorknob and pulled the door open. Inside he saw a short, pale-skinned woman in her mid-forties with pale blue hair who was wearing an elegant blue dress and white gloves.  
"Come on, it's safe."  
She stepped through.  
"Thank you, Steven."  
"You're... welcome!"  
"Sapphire!" yelled a voice -- a voice that belonged to the short woman Steven had rescued.  
"Come on!" yelled Sapphire, grabbing Steven's hand. She ran, pulling him behind her.  
"Whoa!" yelled Steven.  
They kept running until they saw the other woman, the one Steven had rescued. The woman gasped at the sight of Sapphire.  
"Ruby!" yelled Sapphire, and they ran towards each other, embracing in a hug in the centre of the room.  
"Did they hurt you?" asked Ruby.  
"No, no, I'm okay. Did they hurt you?"  
"Who cares!?" Tears started to appear in her eyes.  
"I do!"  
They hugged tightly, then seperated. "Have you seen anyone else?" asked Sapphire.  
"Just Steven and some woman with a hijab. Do you know where Garnet is?"  
Right on cue, the door behind them was violently kicked open, and inside it stood Garnet.  
"Hi, Mom," she said nonchalantly to Ruby. She turned to Sapphire. "Hi, Mum."  
Steven gasped. "Garnet! You have two moms!"  
"Aw, I'm sorry. We didn't want you meeting us here like this."  
"Well, did I make a good first impression?"  
"Oh Steven. We already love you."  
The four stopped dead at the sound of a familiar raspy voice.  
"Where is she!?"  
Garnet bit her lip. "It's Jasper. Steven, find the others and get outside."  
"But I don't know where they are, or how to get out."  
"Pearl and Amethyst are hiding in a room over through that corridor," she explained, pointing at the door she came from. "Pearl has been here before. She'll be able to show you out. Mom, Mum, you two go with him."  
Steven nodded and ran off. Ruby and Sapphire followed him just in time for Jasper to see them leaving as she walked into the room.  
"Oh great. You're both out? And your daughter too? Why? Childbirth is just a cheap tactic to make weak families stronger. Quit embarrassing yourselves!" She turned to Garnet, glaring. "I've seen who you really are."  
Garnet chuckled. "No you haven't," she said, and she started to sing.  
_"This is Garnet._  
_Here forever._  
_And I'm never going down at the hands of the likes of you because I'm so much better._  
_And every part of me is saying "Go get her"._  
_My friends and I ain't gonna follow your rules._  
_Come at me without any of your fancy tools._  
_Let's go, just me and you._  
_Let's go, see how you do."_  
She reached into her pocket and took out her sunglasses. She put them on, and the fight started. Dodging Jasper's lunges, getting up immediately when Jasper finally managed to hit her, and throwing her own punches, all well finding the breath in her lungs to continue singing.  
_"Go ahead and try and hit me if you're able._  
_Can't you see that their relationship is stable?_  
_I can see you hate the way they intermingle._  
_But I think you're just mad 'cause you're single._  
_And you're not gonna stop what we made together._  
_We are gonna stay like this forever._  
_If you break us apart, we'll just come back newer._  
_And we'll always be twice the girl that you are._  
_I am made_  
_O-o-o-o-of_  
_Lo-o-o-o-ove._  
_O-o-o-o-of_  
_Lo-o-o-o-ove._  
_Lo-o-o-o-ove._  
_Lo-o-o-o-ove."_

"Pearl! Amethyst! There you are!"  
Pearl sighed in relief. Her hair was a mess, her shirt torn and her face bruised. "Oh thank God, I was getting worried."  
"Garnet told us to stay here and wait for you," explained Amethyst. "Hey, Ruby, Sapphire! What are you two doing here?!"  
"Jasper stopped her car to pick us up...forcefully," explained Sapphire. "She forced us to lie in the back and tied Ruby up when she wouldn't cooperate. They must have thought we would try to rescue Garnet or something."  
"How come we didn't see you?" asked Amethyst.  
Pearl rolled her eyes. "Amethyst, we were locked in the boot with Garnet. Where is Garnet?"  
"Fighting Jasper," explained Steven.  
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Pearl. "She was out cold the whole way here. I'm quite sure Jasper gave her some sort of drug. I can't tell if she's recovered or not, or if she's thinking coherently."  
"She'll be okay," insisted Steven. "She said you know the way out of this place?"  
"Oh yes," said Pearl. "Follow me!"

 _"This is who we are._  
_This is who I am._  
_And if you think you can stop me,_  
_Then you need to think again._  
_'Cause I am a feeling,_  
_And I will never end,_  
_And I won't let you hurt my planet,_  
And I won't let you hurt my friends."  
Garnet grinned wildly at Jasper. The fight had been going for a few minutes now. Jasper clearly had the upper hand -- she was not only quite a bit stronger physically, but she also had the advantage of having no arm injuries from several weeks before that hadn't been given the chance to heal properly, and of not having been drugged out only hours ago.  
Yet Garnet was clearly winning.  
_"Go ahead and try and hit me if you're able._  
_Can't you see that their relationship is stable?_  
_I know you think I'm not something you're afraid of,_  
_'Cause you think that you've seen what I'm made of._  
_But I am even more than the two of them._  
_Everything they care about is what I am._  
_I am their fury. I am their patience._  
_I am a conversation."_  
_I am made O-o-o-o-of_  
_Lo-o-o-o-ove._  
_O-o-o-o-of_  
_And it's stronger than you._  
_L-o-o-o-ove._  
_O-o-o-o-of_  
_L-o-o-o-ove._  
_And it's stronger than you."_  
She could feel her arms drooping from exhaustion. Whether it was the length of the fight or the fact that she had given herself basically no time whatsoever to recover from the drug she couldn't tell, but she felt as though she might collapse at any moment. With one last burst of strength, she pushed Jasper to the ground and ran outside to meet the others.  
She took longer than she should have to find the exit. It had been at least a decade since she was in that house, and she had tried to forget it altogether. And now was the worst time for her to be trying to figure it out. The drug was definitely taking effect again -- her head was spinning, eyelids drooping, her knees almost collapsing underneath her.  
Her whole body started to go numb. Except her shoulder. God damn her shoulder. She had suspected it was badly injured after the fight with Lapis, but she didn't want Steven or Amethyst to worry, so she had forced herself to act like it was fine. Tearing the bin at the train station out of the ground and throwing it onto the tracks probably hadn't helped, and she was sure she had made it worse somehow in the fight with Jasper.  
At last she staggered out into the yard to meet the others. Ruby and Sapphire ran towards her, hugging her tightly before stepping back to give her space.  
"Are you okay?" asked Pearl nervously.  
"I'm fine."  
Her legs at last gave up on holding her weight and she collapsed onto her hands and knees, grunting at the added pressure on her bad arm.  
"Okay, scratch that. I'm not fine. Call an ambulance."  
And with that, she fainted.

Every night.  
Jasper had given her so much. A roof to live under. A bed to sleep in. Food and water. A phone.  
But she was stuck in the house all the time, not aloud to leave unless Jasper was with her. She got so little sleep at night she doubted it would make a difference if she just stood up straight instead of sleeping in a bed. She had to eat whatever Jasper gave her, whether she liked it or it was halal or not. And Jasper looked through her phone every night, so there was no way to do anything Jasper would disapprove of.  
Was it worth it?  
No, she decided, of course it wasn't. Even if she was allowed to leave the house, even if she did sleep at night, even if she could choose what food to eat, even if she did have her privacy respected, she still didn't think the house, bed, food and phone could make up for what Jasper did to her.  
Every. Single. Night.  
Her phone beeped. She checked the notification, though she already knew what it would say. It said the same thing every night. Jasper had set it up like that.  
Children are weak and I certainly won't help you care for one.  
She moved her finger to dismiss it, then hesitated.  
"I'm done being everyone's prisoner."  
She dismissed the alarm.  
"Now you're my prisoner!"  
She didn't put her phone away. She didn't open the cupboard door. She didn't take a pill out of it.  
"And I'm never letting you go!"  
She grinned.  
"Let's stay in this miserable place... together!"

"Uh... hello?"  
"Steven, I got your message. Are you okay? What's going on?"  
Silence.  
"Steven... ?"


	14. Keeping it Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an effort to track Peridot down, Garnet ends up discovering something disturbing at Amethyst's old house.

"We need to track down Peridot. We know she's out there somewhere. She came to this city with a job to do and odds are, she's still gonna try to do it. That's why I've gathered you here."  
Steven raised an eyebrow. "I thought it was so you can help me fold all this laund-a-ry!"  
"That too." said Garnet. "The chore wheel idea you had fell apart fast."  
Amethyst shrugged as she lazily threw another shirt onto her pile. "Wasn't me."  
They all looked over at the cardboard wheel pinned to the fridge with magnets. The wheel was divided into four sections, each one with a chore and Pearl's name written on it. They then turned to look at Pearl, who blushed. "I just really enjoy doing all of those things."  
"It's better if we do them together." said Garnet.  
Amethyst rolled her eyes. "People should just stop wearing clothes, be a lot funnier."  
"Hey!" snapped Steven. "I'm a civil-i-fied person, thank you very much. Clothing is a must. Hm... this is a lot. I bet this folding would go faster if Ruby and Sapphire were here!"  
"I'm sure they'd be glad to see you Steven." said Garnet. "But I am not calling my moms for laundry."  
"Aw."  
Pearl bit her lip. "Garnet, you don't think Peridot would come looking for us, do you?"  
"We weren't her priority. She was sent here to do something related to what she was doing the station."  
"How can you know that? We don't know what she's doing here in the first place."  
"Mmm... Well, there's only one way to find out. I think we can track her down. We should get going now."  
She stood up. Pearl quickly followed. "Coming!"  
"As long as we don't have to fold anything," muttered Amethyst, standing up as well.  
Garnet turned back. "Steven."  
"C'mon," said Amethyst. "that means you too, right?"  
"You're part of the family too after all."  
Pearl frowned. "Garnet, are you sure we should bring Steven? This might be dangerous."  
"Peridot's got nothing we can't handle."

"You're kidding."  
Amethyst stared, mouth open, at the house. It looked as though nobody had lived in it for around thirteen years. The paint was peeling off of the walls, the windows were boarded up, and there seemed to be a large hole in the wall.  
Pearl shook her head. "Amethyst, I know it's a shock, but this is where she probably is. We found traces of her goo leading up to here."  
Amethyst stomped her foot down defiantly. "This was my house. I would know if Peridot was here."  
"You're right." said Garnet. "But just because Peridot hasn't been here yet, it doesn't mean she won't come."  
"Hm." said Steven.  
"Let's do a thorough check of the perimeter."  
"Mmhm."  
"That way, we can monitor any future entry."  
"Hmm, sounds good to me!"   
He pushed the door open, walking around the house uncertainly until he heard a familiar voice.   
"Log date 6 5 2."  
He looked around and saw Peridot walking up the stairs behind him, fiddling with a tablet of some sort.  
"This is Peridot, updating status. Still stuck in this miserable place... At least Jasper's old house is safe. Jasper will throw a fit if she finds out I've been staying here, though. So it's just until mother brings me back. Besides, Jasper should be busy with Lazuli, since she somehow managed to get her --"  
She suddenly noticed Steven, dropping her tablet in shock.  
"Are..." she whispered hoarsely. "the other ones... with you...?"  
Steven shook his head, then nodded, shrugging.   
"Of course! Why not..." She facepalmed in frustration.  
"Peridot!" yelled Garnet's voice distantly  
"There she is!" yelled Pearl's voice.   
The door burst open, and Amethyst, Pearl, and Garnet ran in.  
Peridot gasped, hesitated, and ran for it. Steven, Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl followed.  
It was a small house, so naturally, it was hard to chase someone around it, and it wasn't long before Peridot made her way to the front door and ran outside. Amethyst glared as she ran. "I'm gonna bop her good!"  
"I'll help!" declared Pearl, and the two chased her off together.

"Hurry, Garnet!"  
He ran furiously, but failed to get anywhere as Garnet held the back of his shirt.   
"If Peridot's mission was related to us, she'd be near Beach City. She's clearly not."  
"Oh! Oh..." said Steven.  
"Let's see what she was actually doing. Come on."

Steven moved closer to Garnet. "I don't know how but... this place is even creepier than the last time we were here."  
"Yes. There's something going on."  
The sun was going down, so less sunlight was pouring in through the windows, and it was getting darker. Steven flicked the light switch, but nothing happened. He frowned.  
"The power's not on. What was Peridot doing?"  
"It looks like she turned it off. Something strange."  
They turned to look around the room. It was a fairly ordinary-looking bedroom, with the walls painted orange, and a large bed in the corner, a chest of drawers next to it, a desk on the other wall. The only unusual thing about the room was the wardrobe in the corner.  
Garnet stepped towards the wardrobe, Steven right behind her. She hesitated, then pulled it open.  
It was completely empty apart from a small cardboard box at the bottom.  
She bent down and picked it up, reading the writing on the box that had been lazily scrawled on with a pen. _"Rose's rebel friends. Unknown names."_  
Hesitantly, she opened the lid of the box. Inside was nothing but dust.  
"What is it?" asked Steven, standing on tiptoes to see properly.   
Garnet said nothing, staring blankly at the dust. Her breathing quickened.  
"Garnet. Uh, Garnet," he said nervously. "Please, talk to me!"  
"Ugh!" she yelled in disgust. She took off her sunglasses, revealing tears falling down her face. "These were Rose's friends, burnt into ashes. They were buried together."  
"Garnet?"  
"They were forced together... They were forced to be cremated! This is wrong! Uh, uh, I'm sorry."  
"No, Garnet, you're freaking out! Garnet! Garnet! Garneeet! Please, what's the matter?! This isn't like you!"  
Garnet remained silent.  
"Garnet?"  
"So this is what they think of life!"  
She continued to cry, trying to reassure herself. "We couldn't have known they would do this...This is where they've been. All the ones we couldn't find. They've been here the whole time! Rose couldn't have known. This is punishment for the rebellion!"  
"It's not our fault!" she sobbed.  
"Garnet!" yelled Steven.  
Finally, she closed the lid of the box and turned to Steven. "St-Steven..."  
"Yo." They turned to see Amethyst entering the room, Pearl by her side. "We're back."  
"Garnet," explained Pearl. "we lost Peridot. She was too fast for us." She noticed the box. "Um..." She grabbed it. "What is this?"   
"Give that back!" ordered Garnet.  
Pearl quickly obliged, a look of confusion coming over her face.  
Garnet turned the box in her hands so Pearl could see the writing. _"Rose's rebel friends._ These are their ashes, Pearl! All the ones we couldn't find, they were cremated and put in here! They didn't even get a funeral!"  
"Woah..." muttered Amethyst.  
Garnet glared. "Come on. We're going and we're taking this back."

"Umm, Garnet?"  
Garnet looked up and nodded, as though giving Pearl permission to speak.  
Pearl blushed. "Well, um," she explained. "while we were chasing Peridot, she gave us some...information..."  
"We didn't want to tell you while you were still upset about the ashes," continued Amethyst. "but it's kind of important...Steven, you should hear it too."  
"Well?" said Steven.  
Pearl and Amethyst blushed, glaring at each other.  
"You say it," hissed Amethyst. "I'm too young for that stuff!"  
"No, you should tell him," hissed Pearl. "Jasper's your -- oh, never mind, we'll tell them together."  
Garnet looked at them expectantly.  
"Well," began Pearl.   
"Peridot told us..."  
"while we were chasing us..."  
"that Lapis Lazuli..."  
"is pregnant..."  
"with Jasper's child." finished Amethyst.


	15. We Need to Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and Connie find out about Rainbow Quartz, and how Greg and Rose's relationship became serious.

_"Here's all the Orange Magic Orchestra ones."_   
_"Great! Put them in the transcendental space rock-pile."_   
_Connie took a vinyl disk. "At home, we only have classical music and movie soundtracks. I've never heard any of these."_   
_"You've never heard the Philosophy Majors? Oh man, give it here."Greg took the disk out of her hands. "This'll really knock your socks off."_   
_The music started playing, and Steven laughed, giving his hand to Connie. "Come on!"_   
_"Whoa!"_   
_They started dancing together, and I smiled at them from a distance. Starting to feel guilty that I was essentially spying on them, I walked into the van. "Hi, Steven! Hi, Connie!"_   
_The music stopped and Greg gave me an astonished glare. "Who are you?!"_   
_"Oh," explained Steven. "they're just a friend. We met them on the beach a while back and Amethyst helped them with something."_   
_"Wait, what did Amethyst help you with?"_   
_"Nothing!" said Connie hurriedly, blushing. "It was nothing important."_   
_I chuckled. "Hey, you two are gonna be playing that song to your kid when you're older._   
_Greg glared at me. "Whoa, whoa, it's... it's a bit early for you two to decide you'll have kids. You need to really understand what you're getting into._   
_"Wha- what do you mean?" asked Connie._   
_Steven gave him a suspicious look. "Yeah, what do you mean?"_   
_"Well..."_   
_"Story! Come on!"_

"Everybody ready?" asked Greg. "One, two, three, four!"  
The guitar started, then the drums and keytar, and then he and Rose started to sing.  
 _"What can I do_  
 _For you?_  
 _What can I do_  
 _That no one else can do?_  
 _What can I do_  
 _For you?_  
 _What can I do_  
 _For you?"_  
Rose twirled away from him as she began her solo.  
 _"Silly man_  
 _You are so much fun_  
 _I hadn't planned_  
 _On finding you quite this entertaining_  
 _I like your band_  
 _And I like your song_  
 _I like the way_  
 _All of you men play_  
 _I like playing along.."_  
 _"What can I do,"_ they sang together.  
 _"For you?_  
 _What can I do_  
 _That no one else can do?_  
 _What can I do_  
 _For you?_  
 _What can I do_  
 _For you?"_  
Greg started his guitar solo, and an olive-skinned girl with short, strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes glared bitterly at the others. She smiled suddenly, and walked over to Rose, grinning as she whispered something in the taller girl's ear. Rose nodded in agreement, and Greg stared in astonishment as the two started to dance. For a second, he was sure they were about to kiss...then Pearl took Rose's microphone, threw something at him, and dropped the mic.  
He picked it up. "Is this an ultrasound photo? What on Earth was that?!"  
"That," said Rose warmly. "is Rainbow Quartz. Pearl thought our future baby might give your video a little... something extra. Pretty cool, right?" She leaned in to kiss him.  
Greg continued to stare in astonishment. "Wait, you're pregnant? But we haven't even --"  
"The baby's mine, Greg," said Pearl, and Rose somehow failed to notice the poison in her voice.  
"I have to go," she said. "but- are you doing anything later?"  
"You know I'm not." said Greg, still taken aback.  
Rose laughed. "You're adorable, Mr. Universe. See you later."  
"Byeeee." he breathed, still in shock as she walked off.  
"Hey," said a young dark-skinned girl with onyx eyes and dark brown hair. "I hitted the drums, so pay up."  
Greg handed the toddler a bag of popcorn. "Here you go."  
Amethyst grabbed the bag in her teeth and shook it like a dog, before popping it open with her hands and starting to eat it.  
"You're just a phase." It was Pearl by his side now. "You know that, right?"  
Greg sighed. "No, I actually don't know that, Pearl."  
"Oh, of course you don't. You don't know anything about Rose."  
"I know she's super into me!"  
"Listen," she said condescendingly. "Mr. Universe. Rose may find you charming, but that's only because you're a man. You're a novelty, at best."  
"What makes you so sure?"  
"Well, that's simple! She's pregnant with my baby! These ultrasounds prove that she would never leave me for some stupid boy! You can't have two partners, Greg!"   
She touched his hair and he blushed angrily.  
"Well, has anyone ever tried having two partners?"  
Pearl was stunned. "Uhh, noo? I don't think so."  
"Well then, I'll help her try!" He dropped the mic.  
At that moment, Amethyst burst into tears because her popcorn fell on the ground. Pearl sighed and walked away. Greg picked up the microphone. "Aw geez, what am I doing? These things are expensive."

Greg, wearing a suit, slicked back his hair as the music played behind him and Rose started walking towards him.  
She laughed. "What's all this?"  
He leaned in towards her, and they started to dance. After a few moments, they shared a passionate kiss, then separated. He cleared his throat. "Rose...will you be my girlfriend as well as Pearl's?"  
"... What!?" She laughed hysterically. "You're just a silly man!"  
"I know! That's the problem! I'm just a man! Are you even into men?! We've been doing this for months now and I still don't know if you're gay or bi!"  
"That's not a problem! I love boys! You're all so funny!"  
Greg grimaced. "Look... these last few months have been great-"  
"Oh yes."  
"But I'm getting a little worried about the future."  
"Oh! Just ask Garnet."  
"I'm starting to wonder if you... respect me?"  
Rose laughed. "Oh, you're hilarious, Mr. Universe."  
"Rose, please!"  
She continued laughing.  
"Can you just-"  
More laughter.  
"Talk to me for one second, like a real person!?"  
She stopped laughing.  
"... I'm... trying to talk to you like... a real person... I thought... haven't we... is this not how it works?"  
"Oh... oh boy... this is so weird, you really are a lesbian..." He started laughing.  
"Why are you laughing?"  
He didn't answer as he broke down into tears.  
"Why are you crying?"  
"How are we gonna make this work?"  
"The baby?"  
"No, us. We're really, really different."  
"What do we do now?"  
"Let's just... talk."  
The two hugged. "I barely know you." muttered Greg.  
"That's a good thing." assured Rose.  
"We really rushed into this."  
"Everything seems fast to me."  
"So, uh...How'd you end up with, uh, Harpo, Groucho, and Chico?"  
He gestured towards Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl.  
"Huh? Oh, them? Those are three long stories."  
"Have you... loved... other men?"  
"Have you loved other women?"  
"Yes."  
"Yes."  
He hesitated. "Have you ever been... in love... with a man?"  
"How would I know?  
"It's torture."  
She stepped back. "Greg..."  
He shivered. "R-rose?"  
"Is this torture?"  
"The worst."  
"I'm so sorry..."  
"Huh? No, don't be!"  
"What!? Why not!? Oooh, I'm so confused..."  
Greg laughed. "Me too!"  
"Well! U-uh, this is good! We've got one thing in common!"  
The two laughed together, and they started dancing.

_"...Whoa," said Steven._   
_"Wait," asked Connie. "So what happened to the baby? Why isn't she here?"_   
_Greg sighed. "Don't tell Pearl I told you this, but...She didn't make it."_   
_"What do you mean?" asked Steven._   
_"She died before she was even born. Rose was devastated."_   
_"Wha? How is that possible?"_   
_Connie looked down sadly. "Well, Steven, you know how the baby stays in the mother's stomach before it's born?"_   
_"Yeah?"_   
_"Yes, well, while it's in the mother's stomach, it's already technically alive, it just needs to grow some more before it can come out. So sometimes when something goes wrong during the pregnancy, the baby can die before it's born."_   
_Greg forced a chuckle. "Rose wanted kids badly, but her first few tries just didn't make it. She would have been so happy to see you, Steven..."_   
_He smiled sadly. I looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry for your loss."_   
_"I wish I could have met her," said Steven. "She was my mom after all."_   
_"Well, maybe once we've invented time travel," joked Greg._   
_I chuckled. "I'm pretty sure time travel will be a thing by the time you've had a kid. Trust me, Steven."_   
_My laugh was so fake, I'm surprised I didn't accidentally call him Dad._


	16. Chille Tid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven finds out about Lapis and Jasper

"Guh! This isn't getting us anywhere."  
Amethyst looked up. "What's the matter, Pierogi?" she said sleepily, bags under her eyes. "You tired?"  
"I don't get tired, I get results."  
Steven frowned, looking around the area once more. Pearl turned a flashlight on, trying to see through the dark. "For all we know, Lapis and Jasper's house could be right under our noses!"  
Garnet walked into view, sighing. "Nothing."  
Pearl groaned. "Ugh, it feels like we've been searching for light years!"  
"Uh, light years measure light," said Amethyst. "not years."  
Pearl threw her hands up in exasperation. "Guh! And I'm sick of these flashlights!"  
"Safety is important, Pearl." said Steven.  
Garnet nodded. "Safety is our job. We must find Jasper and Lapis. As it stands, their relationship is a ticking time bomb  
Steven bit his lip. "Is... Lapis gonna be okay?"  
Garnet shrugged. "It was a little over six months ago that we found out she was pregnant, so she should be pretty far along now, if the baby's not already born. It's impossible to tell how Jasper will cope with a baby. We're gonna have to keep looking. But first, let's bring Steven home."

"We should be out there, searching! Not in here, not searching!"  
""Sleep is a curse," said Seven, quoting himself. "and yet a curse I need to live." -Steven Universe."  
"Steven isn't like us." said Garnet. "He needs rest."  
"Don't you guys need rest too? You look exhausted."  
He did have a point. Garnet's face was lined with creases. Amethyst was drooling slightly, large bags visible under her eyes. Pearl was squinting, her hair disheveled.   
"We look awesome." said Garnet in a strained voice.  
"Look," said Steven. "you really do need to sleep. And maybe we can throw a little fun into the mix, with a slumber party!"  
Pearl's eye twitched. "Fun?"  
"Yeah! All of us together, peacefully dozing off." He rested down on some pillows. "It'll be like there isn't a problem with Lapis to worry about.  
Garnet walked over to Amethyst and Pearl, putting her hands on their shoulders. "Steven's right. You should stay here and relax. But I'm going. Because I'm always relaxed."  
"But, Garnet," protested Pearl. "you couldn't possibly search by yourself! Let me— uh, let us, help you!" She pumped her fist in the air. "We're a team!"  
"No, right now you're a party. A slumber party. Steven, put these two to bed. Don't stay up too late. There's snacks in the fridge. Bye."

"Now, before we get our slumber party started, would any of you care for a slumber companion?"  
He held out a tray full of stuffed animals. Amethyst raised her arms in rejection. "I'm good," she said, flopping over onto her stomach before starting to snore.   
Steven nodded in approval, turning to Pearl. "Pearl?"  
Pearl raised her hand in rejection. "I'll pass on the slumber pals."  
"Okay! Sleep it up, then!"

He slept.  
He woke up.  
It was early in the morning. Garnet still wasn't back, and Pearl and Amethyst were still asleep. Not wanting to wake them up, he played on his phone.   
It was normal.  
Until he got the video call.  
He quickly answered it, but the person on the other end hung up immediately. In the split second, he did manage to see the person's face, and that they were crying.   
He looked at them for a second, and realized who it was.  
Lapis Lazuli.

He called her back, again on video call so he could see her face. She looked astonished at the sight of him. "Steven!"  
"Lapis Lazuli!"  
"Steven, how did you get this number?"   
"Uh, you called me first."   
"That was a coincidence! I was dialing random numbers to find someone who could help me!"  
"Oh...well, I'm sure I can help you."  
"What? No! Steven, I'm trying to concentrate!" She grunted and forced her eyes shut, as though in pain.  
"Oh my gosh," exclaimed Steven. "are you okay?"  
"Steven, please, I—!"  
She hung up. He called back immediately, and luckily she showed up again on the screen. "Lapis!"  
"Steven!" she yelled. "Why do you keep calling back?! I can't get distracted, I've got to..." She drew her head back in pain and grunted.   
"Wait! Lapis, tell me where you are! We can help you!"  
"I told you! No!"  
She screamed out in pain, and all of a sudden it wasn't her face on the screen anymore as the phone was pulled out of her hands.   
"You!" screamed Jasper.  
"What?" stuttered Steven.  
"You!" yelled Jasper, while Lapis's screams of pain could be heard in the background. "You escaped! You and all your stupid mother's stupid friends! How?!"  
"I --"  
"I bet it was your fault! It was a week after you left that she stopped taking the pill! Did you tell her to --"   
Lapis's screams were so loud it was impossible to hear Jasper now. After what seemed like an eternity, the screaming died down, and Jasper threw the phone behind her in frustration.   
Lapis grabbed the phone and held it so that Steven could see her face, gasping for breath and covered in sweat.   
"Can't you see?" she panted. "I can't leave, I can't let her be homeless. Don't look for me. I don't want your help!"  
"But—"  
"Just let me do this for her!"  
"Lapis..."  
"No! It's not just Lapis anymore..." She moved the phone so that another face could be seen next to hers, a baby. The baby's face was bright red as she cried, her eyes screwed up and the few strands of black hair she had sticking up everywhere. "I have to worry about Malachite now."  
"Lapis, no!"  
She hung up.  
He looked around. Pearl was still asleep. No longer caring about her getting enough rest, he ran over and shook her awake.  
"Wha?" she said sleepily, rubbing her eyes.  
"Pearl!" he yelled. "Lapis called me and she's got a baby!"  
Pearl sat up straight in her bed. "Did she tell you where she is?"  
"No, but she had a baby! I don't know if she's okay!"  
"This... is a weird party."  
They turned. It was Garnet.  
"Garnet!" He ran up to her, hugging her legs.  
Garnet frowned. "Steven, you're awake!"  
"Lapis called me and she's with Jasper and she has the baby and she won't tell me where she is and --"  
She put a hand on his shoulder. "I know you're worried, but there's nothing we can do right now. We'll find Lapis soon. We need to rest now."


	17. Cry for Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pearl and Garnet start dating after Pearl has a panic attack about Peridot's message, but something is not as it seems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all have no idea how hard it was to find a way to humanize this story arc without making Pearl a literal rapist.

"I don't get this cartoon, man, why don't they just eat that ice cream off the floor? They don't have to cry about it."  
Amethyst rolled her eyes as the image on the TV turned to static. Steven sighed. "Aw, not again. It was doing this yesterday too."  
"Hang on, I got it." said Amethyst, standing up and walking over to the TV. She kicked it a few times. "How about now?"  
The static began to clear up to reveal a familiar image.  
"Peridot!" exclaimed Steven.  
"G-Squad! P!" called Amethyst. "Peri's on TV!"  
Peridot's hair was a mess, her glasses broken and her clothes dirty as she spoke. _"This is Peridot Diamond transmitting on all frequencies in and around beach city in the hope that someone will be able to pass on the message to my mother, to Yellow Diamond. My mission has been compromised and I am now stranded! Please send help!"_  
The video began to repeat itself. Garnet stared at it, deep in thought. "This might actually make things easier for us. Yellow Diamond probably isn't going to rescue her, and we might be able to use the video to find out where she is and monitor what she's trying to do."  
"Do we know how to do that?" asked Steven.  
Amethyst shrugged. "Maybe we'll have to invite Sugi, she's good with tech stuff. Pearl, any ideas?"  
Pearl stared blankly at the screen for a few seconds, then turned to Garnet, shaking the taller girl's shoulders. "She's back! She got to our TV! That means she can get to us!"  
She let go of Garnet, her hands shaking. She was hyperventilating as tears rolled down her cheeks. "She's...She's going to hurt us..."  
"She can't do anything, Pearl." said Garnet firmly. "She's been here before. If she wanted to come for us, she would be here already. Besides, Jasper's busy with Lapis and Malachite, and Peridot's only a teenager. There's nothing she could do to hurt us."  
"What if she -- What if she brings Yellow Diamond?"  
"Pearl, even if Yellow does get the message, she probably won't do anything. You know she doesn't care about her own daughter. And even if she does, we've escaped her before. We can do it again."  
"We had Rose to protect us before..." muttered Pearl weakly.  
"Well, then," decided Garnet, moving closer to Pearl. "I'll be your Rose."  
And with that, they kissed.

 _"Gooooood evening, everybody! This is the lovely Sardonyx! Coming to you live from the soon-to-be-former Diamond Mansion! How are y'all doin' tonight?"_  
 _Sardonyx Corrundum twirled around for the camera, showing off all sides of her elaborate suit. Her blonde, vaguely triangular-looking afro spiked up, contrasting her dark skin._  
 _"Sorry, I'm just so excited to be here. I'd like to thank my mothers, Garnet and Pearl, for helping me get to this moment. And in this moment, I'd like to honour their late friend Rose Quartz, and my stillborn half-sister Rainbow Aurelia Quartz II. I guess I'm the chance at life that she never had!"_  
 _There was deafening applause, and she waited for the crowd to calm down before continuing. "Now, remember everyone in the audience: It's been almost nine years! You're totally over her! See, that's why you like Garnet now! She's your new Rose, and it'll be just like she was never gone!"_  
 _She pulled a large hammer out of her pocket, easily lifted it above her head, and hit the wall of the Diamond Mansion. The whole mansion collapsed into a pile of rubble._  
 _"Aha! Success! Now, in order to celebrate destroying this place, I'm going to the Philippines!"_  
The sun shone in through the gap in the curtains and Pearl sat up in her bed. She shook her head, remembering the dream. Just for a moment, she had Rose back.   
She was going to keep her.

"Why, Pear? Why did you lie to me?"  
"I didn't mean to- hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!"  
Steven sighed. "Aw, Pear. I'd forgive her. Wouldn't you?"  
Garnet, sitting next to him, didn't answer.  
Amethyst's bedroom door swung open and Amethyst walked out, towards the fridge.   
"Oh, hey, Amethyst!" He waved to her. "You're missing Crying Breakfast Friends!"  
Amethyst opened the fridge door. "That's okay, I'm fine."  
"But it's a really good one so far!"  
"Not really." said Garnet.  
"Don't worry. I'm recording it for later."  
For half a second, maybe a moment longer, the screen turned to static.  
The show resumed immediately afterwards, but the split second was all it took.  
"She's coming!"  
Garnet was on it immediately. "Don't worry, Pearl, it's not her, it's just the signal glitching..."  
The two shared hugs and kisses for what seemed like an eternity. After a while it seemed like Pearl had calmed down, so Amethyst took the chance to ask, "Hey, G, could you help me with my homework?"  
Pearl chose that exact moment to whimper again, and Garnet shook her head. "Just a second, Amethyst."  
Amethyst sighed, walking out of the room, and she began to sing.  
"Maybe you're better off with her  
I think she's better for you  
I forgot how great it felt to be us  
Guess I got carried away  
I had to use you to make me feel strong  
But I don't care about that now  
I see a tower built out of my mistakes  
And it all comes crashing down  
Is there something I can doo-oo  
Is there something I can doo-oo-oo  
Is there something I can doo-oo  
Can I make it up to you?"  
"Hmm..." muttered Steven.

"Okay," said Steven. "The TV gets its signal from the roof. If anything happens, we'll see it from here. Bam!"  
"Yeah, bam!" said Amethyst in agreement.  
"Pearl will be so impressed!  
"And then Garnet'll have time for me again!"  
He set up a telescope in the tree they were hiding in, pointing it towards the door, and waited.  
"I don't think she's coming," said Amethyst after a while. "Uh, what are you doing?"  
"If you make your eyes blurry, it looks like there's a little magic sausage in between your fingers."  
She replicated his hand movements. "This is stupid. It doesn't even work."  
"Try this!" He moved her hair out of her eye.   
"Hey, don't mess with my-" She saw it. "Ooohh..."  
Steven laughed. "Well, even if we didn't catch Peridot, at least I taught you a great way to pass the time!"  
He gasped.  
"What?!" asked Amethyst.  
"I think I saw something!"  
He looked into the telescope. "Yeah, I can see... Pearl?"  
"What?" She pushed him out of the tree and looked through the telescope. "Lemme see! Oh no."

As they ran back into the house, they saw the familiar image. Pearl sobbing into Garnet's arms, rambling about the static on the TV and how she was sure it was Peridot. "Stop!" screamed Amethyst, full of fury at the sight of them.  
Pearl gasped. "I-Is something the matter, Amethyst?"  
"You-you shouldn't..."  
"Pearl..." said Steven. "we saw you." He looked away.  
"What?"  
"You need to tell Garnet it was you!"  
"I don't understand." said Garnet.  
Pearl turned to face the taller girl. "I'm sorry... I-It's just... it feels so good when you comfort me."  
Garnet immediately let go of Pearl, furious. "You did this."  
"Wait! Let me explain!"  
"You've been faking panic attacks for attention!"   
"I really was scared! T-The first time..."  
"You tricked me!"  
"No! No, no, no, no! We just needed a reason to be close! I just wanted to share a bit more love with you!  
"That wasn't love!"   
"Wait, Garnet!" protested Amethyst. "You know, we're so much weaker than you! Having you help us is our one chance to feel... stronger!"  
"Don't defend her! Peridot is out there somewhere and Pearl's been distracting us with... nothing!"  
"Garnet..." breathed Pearl.  
"That's enough! Pearl, I'm breaking up with you!"  
"But..." began Amethyst.  
"Another word in her defence and you're grounded for a week!"

"Please, forgive me!"  
"Of course I forgive you!"  
Pearl and Garnet each walked into the house, avoiding eye contact with each other.  
Amethyst sighed. "Man, it sure would be nice if things worked out the way they do in cartoons."  
"Yeah." agreed Steven. "It would."


	18. Keystone Motel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby and Sapphire find out about how Pearl manipulated Garnet. Their reactions are...conflicting.

"I have good news!"  
Pearl sighed as she turned to the younger boy. "What is it, Steven?"  
Steven grinned. "Garnet came out of her room while you were at the shops!"  
"Really? What did she do?"  
He shrugged. "Uh, she mostly just peed and made a sandwich and then went back to her room."  
"Oh."  
"You know," he said optimistically. "I really think she's starting to get over the breakup."  
"We," screamed Taylor Swift's voice coming from Garnet's phone on max volume. "are never ever ever getting back together!"  
"Are you sure about that?" asked Pearl.  
"...okay, maybe she's still a little upset. But don't worry! I have a plan."

"Another great thing about motels --" Greg opened the door -- "you can drive right up to your door!"  
Steven gasped in awe at the sight of the perfectly normal motel room. "I'm gonna swim in the pool, order a movie, get free ice! It's gonna be great!"  
He jumped on the bed and Greg glared. "Not before we check for bed bugs, it isn't!"  
It was at that moment that Garnet entered, carrying their bags. Ruby and Sapphire followed, staring at each other in confusion.  
Greg's cell phone beeped and he quickly checked it. "Oh! That's my cue. Hey, do you mind holding down the fort until I get back?"  
Garnet sat on the bed and gave him a thumbs up.  
"Great. I'm going to see a man about a tunnel brush... An internet man... If I'm not back in an hour, call the police."  
"Ohhkay!" said Steven hurriedly.  
Greg flashed Ruby and Sapphire a wink before walking out and closing the door behind him.  
Steven grinned. "Bounce with me Garnet!" he said, jumping on the bed. "O-or we could look at brochures. Oh, Keystone Caverns...."  
Garnet stood up. "I'm going for a walk. Mom, Mum, you look after Steven."  
She stomped off as her phone started to play yet another breakup song.   
Ruby groaned in frustration as the door slammed. "This isn't like her! Why is she acting so weird?! How are we gonna figure out what happened to her?!"  
"She had a brief romantic fling with Pearl which ended badly." said Sapphire calmly.  
"WHAT?!?!" choked Ruby.  
"Or possibly Lars Barriga, or somebody else I don't know about. But Pearl is the most likely candidate."  
"H-How did you figure that out?" stuttered Steven.  
"Elementary, my dear Steven. She was playing breakup songs the whole car ride here, so she's obviously just had a breakup. While we were talking on the phone this morning she said I shouldn't bring the pink dress because if I wore it I would look like the trans pride flag, as if that's a bad thing. And as we were driving here, she glared at the Asian store. And, lastly, she seemed very eager to get out of Beach City. So, in conclusion, she's just had a breakup, and she's very angry at an Asian trans person who lives in Beach City. So unless there's someone I'm forgetting, it must be either Pearl or Lars, and Lars is underage, so Pearl is the more likely candidate."  
"Sapphire," said Ruby through gritted teeth. "if you make one more 'deduction' then I'm permanently banning you from Sherlock."  
Sapphire ignored her. "So, what was the cause of the breakup?"  
"Well, um..." muttered Steven, blushing. "Pearl sort of...well...long story short, she pretended she was having panic attacks so Garnet would comfort her. And eventually Garnet found out and now she's really mad."  
"She manipulated our daughter?" said Sapphire calmly. "That wasn't very nice of her."  
She then noticed Ruby breathing heavily through gritted teeth.  
She groaned. "Calm down. It wasn't even you who she manipulated, and Garnet will forgive her soon, so you'll have to as well.  
Ruby panted. "I don't feel like forgiving Pearl!"  
"You don't understand, we must."  
"If you're not going to listen then you can just- go!"  
She pointed to the door angrily and Sapphire sighed. "We must move past this, Ruby."  
"She lied to Garnet for attention! She tricked her; don't you feel used?!"  
"Ruby!" exclaimed Steven. "Sapphire! I uh-"  
Sapphire frowned. "You're choosing to take it personally."  
"It's Garnet, Sapphire! What's more personal to us than Garnet!?"  
"I know, you're still upset."  
"Oh, so it's just me?"  
"Of course not." She turned to face Ruby, her face completely expressionless. "Can't you see I'm completely engulfed with rage?" she said calmly.  
"Well, it doesn't feel like it." She started to tap her foot impatiently.  
"The sooner we forgive Pearl, the better it will be for us all."  
"You're... not... as above this as you... think you... are!"  
"Yes, I am." replied Sapphire as Ruby started angrily pacing. "You can't stay angry with her forever."  
Ruby turned and pointed at her. "Wanna bet?"

"Hey, Ruby! You wanna swim in the pool?"  
"It's Garnet, Steven!" screamed Ruby, pacing around beside the pool. "It's like Sapphire doesn't even care! And we're supposed to be the bigger person about this. We're ALLLLLLWAYS the bigger person! Well not this time! Not—about—this!"  
"Come on, w-why don't you come cool down in the pool? Hup!"  
He cannonballed into the pool and Ruby glared. "I don't need to "cool down"."  
"Come on, Ruby! The water's niiice!"  
"Why does she always act like I'm being ridiculous?" She dropped into the water and started to swim furiously. "Just because she wants to pretend like she doesn't have feelings? Oh yeah! I don't have any feelings..."  
"Uhh, Ruby?" muttered Steven as Ruby continued to rant. "... You're splashing me!" Ruby continued to swim furiously. "Aah! You're making a tidal wave!" As Ruby refused to stop, he climbed out of the pool. "Uhh... I'm gonna go back to the room."  
He walked into the room and sat down next to Sapphire. "Sapphire?"  
"Hello, Steven," she replied.  
"Are you... doin' ok?"  
"I'm... fine."  
"Okay... Wanna watch TV together?"  
"Sure."   
He turned the TV on. "Huh... the channels are all the wrong numbers... Hey... can you use your Sherlock powers to deduce what channel I'd love the most?"  
"Hmm... 43. But there's not much on."  
He switched to channel 43, and then looked out the window. He frowned. "Hey, S-Sapphire?"  
"Even if I do, Ruby won't listen."  
"Huh?"  
"You're going to say I should talk to Ruby, but it won't help."  
"B-But she seems really upset."  
"That doesn't matter. We can't stay mad at Pearl forever, and she can't stay mad at me forever, and then she'll come back and see that I'm right."  
"Are you sure?"  
"I can see the path of human error as it stretches toward the horizon. Ruby can't avoid the inevitable. She's just letting her emotions get out of hand."  
"Not you though?"  
"No."

"Hey, Stu-ball, I brought dinner!"   
Steven smiled as his father walked in carrying a pizza box. "Hey Dad, how'd it go?"  
"Well, he wasn't an axe-murderer, so that was good. What are you doing outside in your bathing suit?"  
He looked into the room and saw Sapphire.  
"He's not gonna like that it's square..." said Sapphire.  
"Where's Ruby?" asked Greg. "And Garnet! She's the whole reason we organised this thing!"  
"Ruby's swimming and I have no idea where Garnet is. She said she was going for a walk."   
Greg sighed. "Maybe they're not recovering any time soon. But hey! We can still have a good time!"  
He opened the pizza box, and Steven glared in fury.  
"Square pizza?! What's wrong with this crazy state?!"  
"Son, there will come a time in your life when you learn to accept all pizza."  
Steven frowned. "Why can't Ruby and Sapphire just... make up?"  
"Sometimes people that love each other can hurt each other's feelings, without meaning to. We should just give them some space."  
"But I think they'd work it out if they'd just talk to each other!"  
"Everything will be better in the morning. We'll all go to the best diner in the world, where we'll eat the best breakfast in the world!"  
"You think that'll help?"  
Greg nudged his son. "Nothing like a little breakfast to bring people together!"  
"You really are my favorite dad."  
"I knew this pizza would put me over the top..."

The waitress smiled as she gently placed the four plates on the table.  
"Thank you!"  
"Thanks!"  
Ruby stared blankly at her food.  
"What's the matter?" asked Greg. "Not hungry?"  
"Ruby doesn't like eggs, Dad."  
"Eh... Well Garnet likes to eat eggs sometimes."  
"Argh!" snapped Ruby. "Well Garnet's not here!" She threw herself against the booth seat and crossed her arms, wiggling a foot impatiently.  
Steven and Greg looked at each other, then started eating.  
"Mmm..." said Greg nervously. "Oh boy, this really is "The Best Diner in the World"!"  
Ruby started shaking the table.  
"You're shaking the table." said Sapphire.  
"Oh?!" said Ruby, punching the table before continuing to shake it. "Hah, I'm kinda surprised you felt anything at all, to be honest!"  
"I didn't need to feel, I saw."  
"Eeeverything is just so... CRYSTAL. CLEAR. TO. YOU. ISN'T IT?!?!"  
Steven and Greg frantically lifted their food off of the table. Sapphire leaned over to them. "This will pass. She'll eventually just burn herself out."  
"THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK! I AM AN ETERNAL FLAME, BABY!"  
She turned to Sapphire. "You don't know me!"  
"How could I possibly not know you, we're always together—"  
"Look at you! Awww-haw-haw."  
"We're always together. Look at you. Look at what you're going on about..."  
"You don't even know yourself! Hah!"  
Greg smiled nervously at Steven. "Hey, it's okay pal! We can still save this! Why don't we just bag them up to go, and-"  
Steven tossed his plate onto the floor, and walked outside with tears in his eyes. Ruby and Sapphire stared at him.   
"Aww jeez..." muttered Greg.  
Ruby and Sapphire looked at each other, then at the door, and ran outside.  
"Steven!" they yelled.  
Steven turned to face them, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I was so happy when Greg and I managed to organise this! Home's been awful! Here's been awful! I was hoping I could get Garnet to calm down but everyone's been acting awful too! It-It just came with us! I don't understand!" He looked down at the ground. "Is it- is it me?"  
"No!" yelled Ruby hurriedly. "Steven, it's all us!"  
"But we made him feel..." said Sapphire. "like it was his fault." She lifted a hand up to her face. "I kept telling myself we shouldn't interfere, because it wasn't even us that broke up with her... As if it doesn't matter how she feels about it all..." Tears rolled down her left cheek. "No wonder you think I don't care!"  
"Sapphire... -- No, no no no no no no no! This is all my fault! I-I didn't want to look for a solution, I-I just wanted to be mad! Y-You're right! You're always right! I was being stupid!"  
"I don't think you're stupid!  
"I'm... sorry..."  
She brushed Sapphire's pale blue hair to the side, revealing her face. All of the tears were coming from her left eye, which was a beautiful shade of blue, wheras her right eye was forced closed by a diagonal scar across the side of her face.  
"You honestly think I'm not upset about what happened? I was just... trying to do the right thing..."  
"I know..."  
Greg walked up to them. "Well, I paid for breakfast... And the damage to the booth... Anywho, I think I'm all vacationed out. Ready to call it a day?"  
Steven was about to say something when he was cut off by a familiar voice.  
"Not before we get our free ice."  
He looked up, stars in his eyes. "Garnet!"  
"You were watching us?!" choked Ruby.  
"Of course she was," said Sapphire. "We messaged her to tell her we were going to dine here, and she replied saying she would meet us here. Garnet doesn't often lie, so it stands to reason that she would be here somewhere we couldn't see her."  
Garnet sighed. "I didn't realise my fight with Pearl was causing all this trouble. I'm really sorry."  
"It's okay," said Steven. "Come on, let's get home."

"I just don't know why I keep-" She saw them. "Oh! Uh- You look like you all had fun!"  
"Yeah!" said Steven. "It all worked out!"  
Pearl turned to Garnet. "Garnet, how are you?"  
Garnet held her hand up. "Not now." She walked away.  
Pearl stared. "She's speaking to me again... Kind of."  
Greg smiled. "That really was a great trip."  
Steven gasped. "Can we go back?"  
"Maybe one day... But, not to that diner! Oh boy..."


	19. Friend Ship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Pearl's attempts to gain Garnet's forgiveness end badly, they must work together to survive.

"Stupid station food..." grumbled Peridot, walking along with an oversized donut in her hands. "stupid cold, stupid dirt, stupid mission! Now what am I going to -"  
"Oh, aha! Look! I was right! My plan worked perfectly!"  
Peridot turned, feeling anxiety rising inside her as she saw Steven waving at her and politely saying, "Good mornin'!"  
"What!? How did you know I was here?"  
"We found a secret way to track you, and we'll never tell you how, even if you ask nicely."  
"Peridot!" yelled Garnet. "We're here to—"  
Pearl pointed at her. "And you'll never get away with this!"  
Peridot groaned, trying not to show her fear. "Don't you idiots have anything better to do than annoy me!?"  
"Nope," said Amethyst. "we're gonna—"  
"Prepare to be annoyed!" interrupted Pearl.  
Peridot groaned again. "I don't have time for this!"  
She took a small object out of her pocket and, quickly checking to see if it was important (it wasn't - just a spare hairclip), hurled it at Pearl. Pearl stared as it landed a few feet in front of her, doing no damage whatsoever. "That's it! I'm taking her out!"  
"Pearl, wait!" called Garnet.   
But it was too late; Pearl was already running at Peridot. Peridot pushed her away, and before long a fight broke out.   
As the four tried and failed to catch Peridot, Pearl continued her relentless insistence that she would be the one to beat her. Until the crash.  
The crash involved three events, in this order:  
1\. A train pulled up at the station  
2\. In their attempts to get Peridot, Garnet and Pearl crashed into each other.  
3\. Peridot got onto the train.  
"Pearl!" screamed Garnet as the two collapsed onto the ground together, her voice full of fury.  
"Huh!?" choked Pearl.  
"Get off me!"  
Pearl quickly stood up. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She started to help Garnet up, but the taller girl got up on her own, grimacing. Pearl recoiled away and Peridot laughed from the train car. "Wow. This is just sad. I almost feel sorry for you."  
And with that, the train took off.  
Steven waved. "Have a great weekend!" He noticed the three older girls glaring at him and added, "I mean, I hope... her weekend is... not so great?"

"Okay, I realize that was a bit of a fiasco this morning. But there's a silver lining to this! Now we know for sure that we can track her every movement! Whenever she takes a train from the station, we can check the security footage to see where she is and what train she'll most likely take back, and meet her there. It's only a matter of time until we catch her, and when we do, we'll be able to close this chapter and finally move on!" She turned to Garnet anxiously. "Right?"  
Garnet remained silent - a deafening silence that kept the whole group quiet and seemed to last forever until Amethyst finally broke it by sighing heavily. "Look, isn't there something that maybe the two of you might need to talk about?"  
Pearl ignored her, looking at the train schedule in her hands. "It's Peridot. She must be on the train back to Crystal City now. There's not another train for hours. If she thinks she's got the upper hand, then she's got another thing coming. And that's us!"  
She ran off in the direction of the familiar route to the station and Garnet followed nervously.  
"Well..." muttered Steven hopefully. "at least Pearl's optimistic."  
"It won't help," said Amethyst. "She can hand Peridot over on a silver platter, but it won't make up for the stunt she pulled to get Garnet's attention."  
"Steven!" called Garnet. "Let's go."

"She's not here!" yelled Pearl in frustration. "Why isn't she here?!"  
"She's probably just taking the later train," said Amethyst carelessly. "She wouldn't have gone out there if she was going to come back so soon. C'mon, let's go home."  
"We can't!" protested Pearl. "We have to find her!"  
Steven looked around anxiously, then spotted a door with a red sign above it saying _AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY._ "Let's look in there! It's exactly the sort of place where she would hide!"  
"Yes!" said Pearl. "Of course! Thank you, Steven!"  
And she ran through the door before anyone could tell her not to. Garnet, however reluctantly, followed.   
The four found themselves in a dark, narrow tunnel. Pearl ran ahead, and Garnet sped up to catch up while Steven and Amethyst lagged behind. They saw a door ahead of them and Pearl practically smacked it open as she ran through, with Garnet only just managing to squeeze in behind her. The door slammed shut behind them, and it was a few seconds before they noticed that Amethyst and Steven didn't seem to be coming in.  
Garnet grabbed the handle of the door and pulled on it. Nothing.  
She pushed on it. Nothing.  
"Amethyst!" she called. "Can you open the door?"  
She felt the door jiggling, then heard Amethyst's sigh. "I think it locked behind you two."   
"We gotta get 'em out!" yelled Steven as Garnet started punching the wall. "Amethyst, what should we... !?"  
"Garnet... I'm sorry!" stuttered Pearl.  
Amethyst turned to Steven as she listened. "Wait a sec."  
"Things weren't supposed to turn out this way."  
Garnet punched the wall one more time. "We'll get out of here somehow."  
Pearl sighed. "That's not what I mean... I really wanted to catch Peridot to make up for what I did... I wanted to prove to you that... that everything could go back to normal..."  
"Catching Peridot won't make things go back to normal. This isn't about Peridot."  
"Hey!" exclaimed Amethyst. "They're actually talking!"  
"Now they can finally work things out!" said Steven.  
At that moment, in her desperation, Pearl looked around the room frantically. It was a fairly empty room, except for a small computer in the corner. In a pathetic attempt to get the door to open, she kicked the computer as hard as she could.   
"Pearl," said Garnet. "you idiot."  
Outside, dread filled Amethyst's mind as she smelled a familiar scent coming out from under the door. She crouched down to peek under the door, and her worst fears were confirmed as she saw an orangeish light and coughed on the smoke. "Not if they get burned!"   
Inside the room, Garnet frantically tried to push the door open, while Pearl tried with little success to put the fire out. "Please! Tell me! How can I make you forgive me!?"  
"You can't!" snapped Garnet. "You lied to me! You need to learn that there are consequences to your actions!"  
"I'm sorry! I... I couldn't help myself!"  
"I don't want to hear your excuses!"  
"But it's true! No matter how hard I try to be strong like you... I'm just Pearl. I'm useless on my own." She started to cry. "I need someone to tell me what to do. ... When we fuse, I can feel what it's like to be you. Confident and secure, and complete. You're perfect. You're the perfect girl, you're always together, I just... I wanted to be a part of that."  
"You're wrong! I'm not as strong as you think! I fell apart over this. I spent the whole weekend in my room. Steven and my moms had to practically drag me out to get me to go on that road trip, and I spent most of the time there hiding."  
She coughed on the smoke, trying to get the door open. "It's not easy being in control. I have weaknesses too. But I choose not to let them consume me. I struggle to stay strong because I know the impact I have on everyone. Please understand, Pearl. You have an impact too. There are times when I look up to you for strength. You are your own girl. You control your destiny. Not me, not Rose, not Steven. But you must choose to be strong, so we can move forward. So I can trust you again."  
"... I understand. I can't give up anymore!"  
"Good!"  
The fire was practically consuming the entire room by now. The two could hardly breathe without coughing and the room was getting unbearably hot. Garnet looked around, trying to think. "Pearl, there's only one way out of this!"  
"Only if you're okay with it."  
The two gripped each other's hands and ran at the door together. It swung open and they found themselves being forced into a hug by Amethyst and Steven.  
"Did you forgive each other?" asked Steven.  
"Are you in luuuuve again?" mocked Amethyst.  
Garnet ignored them. "Come on. Let's get out of here."


	20. Catch and Release

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garnet, Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl capture Peridot

"Goodnight, Happy Bear. Goodnight, Sad Bunny. Goodnight, Playful Kitty. Goodnight, Ominous Triangle lurking outside my window."  
He paused, then looked out the window again. The ominous triangle was a head of blonde hair, and he could recognize who it belonged to.  
"Peridot!" he yelled.  
Peridot turned to the window and, realizing he could see her, ran for it. He opened the window, jumped out, and followed her.

Not for the first time, he chased Peridot all the way to the train station.  
"What do you want?" he panted, finally catching up to her.  
Peridot turned, glaring at him furiously. "What I want, is to get the hell out of here and find my way home!"  
"Huh?"  
She ignored him, furiously staring at a train schedule. "I have to find a train! If I can get there, maybe she'll let me come back!"  
"Wait, what?"  
"This is my last chance. I've got no home. I've got no food! I've got no response from Yellow Diamond!" She started to hyperventilate. "I know you know about Lazuli's baby. If you want me to be able to help her, I need to get home!"  
"Woah, okay, calm down. Where do you need to get?"  
"I -- don't -- know! Mother never let me find out about where we live or anything, she thought I would give the information to enemies! You were there, you tell me!"  
"Huh? When was I there?"  
"When Jasper and I took you all prisoner and drugged the --" she referred to Garnet with a word that Steven was lucky he had learned from Connie at school, because if he had gone home and asked Garnet what the word meant she would be very angry indeed -- "and you all escaped! You must have taken the train home, you don't even have a car!"  
"Okay, first of all, don't call Garnet that word. Second of all, Garnet had to go to the hospital in an ambulance, and the rest of us took a cab home. But don't worry! You can stay at our house! Just don't call Garnet that word. She'd kill you."  
She sat down and curled into a ball. "This was it... This was my last shot! I'm gonna die here! Noooooh, oh-"  
"Hey, hey- come on! My house isn't that bad..."  
"It doesn't matter what your house is like! It's not going to be like anything soon!"  
"What do you mean?"  
Peridot was about to answer when she noticed the sound of running footsteps. She looked behind her and saw, to her horror, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. She groaned in frustration, standing up and running again.  
"There he is!" yelled Pearl, running towards Steven and embracing him in a hug.  
"Guys!"  
"What happened?!" asked Pearl.  
"Ahh, you're okay!" said Amethyst.  
Garnet glared. "Peridot!"  
"Why can't you just leave me alone?!!!??" screamed Peridot.  
"Wait! Calm down!" said Steven urgently. "She's homeless and scared! She didn't hurt me or anything! The only bad thing she's done is call Garnet a bad word that starts with n --"  
"Seriously?" asked Amethyst as Garnet proceeded to catch Peridot and pin her to the ground. "You thought that would make her less angry?"  
"Wait," protested Peridot as Garnet held her to the ground. "wait.. you- you need me!! I'm.. the only one who knows ABOUT THE--"  
She went limp mid-sentence, and Garnet stood up, carrying the small girl in her arms.  
"She must have fainted from the stress. Or maybe Jasper drugged her too...Now we're even. We can't let her be homeless. We're taking her home."  
"Garnet, she was trying to tell us something..." said Steven.  
"Those were just the desperate lies of a girl who's been caught. You don't need to worry about her anymore."  
"Come on, Steven," said Pearl. "Oh, I'm so glad this is finally over."

"-the bomb, you insufferable half-brained rebel mega-clods!!"  
Peridot looked around the dark basement, then realised that it was a bit late to finish her sentence. "What happened? What am I doing here?!"  
A door opened at the top of the staircase, shining some light into the room. It was Steven.  
"Don't worry, the others aren't with me. Back at the station, what were you trying to say? Why do we need you? What do you know?"  
"What do I know? Everything there is to know about the bomb, you idiot."  
"Cluster? Wait, "idiot"?"  
"Guh! When Jasper was here to kidnap you all, she planted a bomb under your house!"  
"Wh-What?"  
While Steven was caught by surprise, Peridot ran up the stairs and past him. "Freedom is mine!!!"  
She had never been in the house before, so while she was intending to run outside, she instead ran into the kitchen, where Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were sitting at the table. In her panic, she ran into the bathroom and locked the door.  
Amethyst tried to pull the door open, then sighed. "It's locked."  
"Peridot, open the door!" ordered Garnet.  
They heard the toilet flushing and Amethyst sighed. "If you're trying to flush yourself down the toilet, it won't work. Trust me, I've tried."  
"Guys!" called Steven. "she knows something! Something that's made her scared!"  
"Duh," said Amethyst. "Homegirl knows we're gonna beat her into a green pancake."  
"No, not 'cause of us. She said Jasper planted a bomb for us."  
"What else did she tell you?" asked Pearl.  
"That's all I got."  
"That's right, you dirt bombs!" screamed Peridot. "You don't even know what's coming!!!"  
Garnet sighed. "I'm tired of playing these games. If we can't fight her, then fine. We'll talk. Peridot. Alright, no more fighting. Let's just have a civil conversation."  
"As if I'd negotiate with you, filthy --" she called Garnet the word.  
"Okay, let's kick her butt."  
"Wait!" yelled Steven.  
"Yeah!" called Peridot. "Hurt me again, and have fun trying to talk to me when I'm out cold!"  
Pearl frowned. "I really hate to say it, but unfortunately if she has information, she's more valuable to us like... this."  
"This is going to be tricky." said Garnet.  
"H-h-hot hot hot!"  
Steven sighed. "You have to turn the knob the other way for cold!"

"Wait, so we're just gonna let her live in the bathroom?"  
"Well," said Pearl. "yes. What other option do we have? Keep her outside on a leash?" She forced a laugh. "Ha ha... Hmm..."  
"But, I need to use the bathroom!"  
"Right now?"  
"Yeah, kinda."  
Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Just go in the ocean, bro. Pssssh. Like a feeyush."  
Steven groaned. "What's with you guys and making me pee outside!?"  
Amethyst sighed. "Well I have fun doing it."

Peridot looked around the bathroom and sighed, mentally weighing up her options. In her head, she went over and over her situation, and decided she had exactly three choices.  
_1\. Refuse to give my captors any information about the bomb and hopefully find a way out of here before it goes off_  
_2\. Help them find and defuse the bomb_  
_3\. Pretend to help, then make a break for it as soon as I'm out of the house_  
Option 1 was hugely risky, since there didn't seem to be any way to exit the bathroom without unlocking the door, which was obviously out. Option 3 was even worse -- she had never been a good runner, and she had serious doubts she could outrun Garnet, which meant she would have to find some way to keep them busy while she was running. Even if she could get away -- and that was a big if -- there were only two places she could go, the station and Jasper's old house, and those would be the first places her captors would look.  
If only she had her phone with her. She had been dropped off at Beach City by her mother with the instruction that, as punishment for letting them escape, she would only be allowed to come back to the house if she had managed to kidnap Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Steven, Ruby, and Sapphire. A totally impossible task alone -- she had only managed it before when she had Jasper's help, weeks of preperation and the drug to knock out Garnet. She had just given up on trying and focused on finding her way home, hoping that her mother wasn't serious about it. Now, if she called, her mother would probably take the chance to rescue her, if only because she would easily be able to capture four of them. But she had lost her phone somewhere at Jasper's old house, and there was no way she was getting it back now.  
So that left Option 2. As much as she hated her captors right now, helping them seemed to make more sense than anything else she could do. There was one problem, though: her mother. There was no way she would ever be allowed back in the house after making an alliance with them. Where else could she stay? She was only a teenager. She doubted her captors would let her stay with them after everything she did, and even if they did, she would probably have to sleep in the basement. Jasper? No, not a chance, not with Lazuli's kid.  
That was the problem. Apart from her mother and Jasper, there wasn't really anyone she could fall back on. Sure, she had her half-sister Saffron, but Saffron still lived with their mother too, so there wasn't much she could do.  
She sighed as she realised something. Whether she was blown up with the house, or she survived long enough to end up homeless and succumb to starvation, dehydration, illness, or any number of other things that could kill her on the streets, she was probably going to die in Beach City within the next three months.


	21. When it Rains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven helps Peridot get over her fear of the rain, and in return she gives him some information.

"Open the door, Peridot! If this bomb is putting us in danger, you need to tell us what it is so we can stop it."  
"NO!" yelled Peridot. "I hate you. I'm not telling you anything about the bomb!"  
Pearl sighed. "Now Peridot, I'm sure we can reach some sort of agreement. Perhaps a trade is in order?"  
"Oh, sure, why don't you just give me my phone and my bedroom with all of my possessions! Oh wait, I LOST THEM AND NOW I'M NEVER GETTING THEM BACK BECAUSE OF YOU! So no, I DON'T THINK WE CAN REACH SOME SORT OF AGREEMENT!!"  
Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst groaned as they heard a flushing noise.   
"Okay Peridot," said Steven. "you can turn around now."  
He walked out of the bathroom. "Sorry for interrupting your interrogation."  
"Don't worry about it, Steven." said Garnet.   
Pearl frowned. "I swear, Peridot is gonna crack any second now!"  
"I'll never crack for the likes of you, you... CLODS!"  
Pearl growled. "I'VE GOT YOUR CLODS RIGHT HERE, YOU LITTLE--"  
"Hold on Pearl." decided Garnet. "If she's not going to be of any help, let's investigate this thing on our own."  
"I'll come with you!" declared Steven.  
"Sorry Steven, we're gonna need you to stay here and keep an eye on our... guest."  
"Really?!"  
"Yeah!" agreed Amethyst. "Make sure she doesn't try anything."  
"Don't worry," assured Pearl. "she's harmless."   
"I'M NOT HARMLESS!"  
"Oh, hush up!"  
"Oh!" exclaimed Garnet. "Steven, there's one more thing I have to mention."  
"What is it?"  
She formed a heart shape with her hands. "I love you. Bye!"

Rain.  
She always had hated rain.  
Well, 'hated' was the wrong term. She wasn't exactly sure what the right term was. For a moment she considered it might be 'feared', but quickly dismissed the thought. She feared nothing. Not even rain. The fact that she normally sat curled up in a ball in the emergency bunker while it rained and forced Saffron to comfort her proved nothing.  
Thunder rolled through the air, and she could take it no longer. She kicked the bathroom door open and ran out.   
Steven was out there, looking astonished as he stared at her. "Make it stop!" she ordered, hyperventilating.  
"Make what stop?"  
"The rain! Make it stop before it turns into a storm and kills us all!"  
Steven chuckled. "Don't worry, it can't hurt you."  
"Yes, it can! It will turn into a storm and a tree will hit the house! Where's the emergency bunker?"  
"No, no i-it's just water, it can't hurt you. Here, why don't I just show you?"  
He ran out into the rain. "Woo-hoo!"  
Peridot watched from the doorway nervously. "Steven, wait! Umm uhhmmm..."  
"COME ON!" He laughed. "Look, I'm okay, it's just water! Besides, there are no trees near enough to hit the house."  
Hesitantly, she held out a hand, then flinched back when it was hit by a drop. She tried again, this time stepping out into the rain, letting it soak her hair.   
"YEAH, YOU DID IT! What do you think? Isn't it cool?" He laughed.  
"Cool..."  
"That was fun. Huh?"  
"It was... something. Hmmm, ehhh hmmm. Sssteven..?"  
"Hm?"  
"I'm going to say something." She took a deep breath. "Thank you."  
"Uhh, what for?"  
She smiled. "For helping me when I was scared."  
"Oh, no problem." He giggled.  
"Yes, you're a much more intelligent creature than I initially thought."  
"Um, that's... good?"  
"Yes, much more useful than those... clods. STEVEN! I've made up my mind."  
"About what exactly?"  
"I've decided to share some... information with you!"  
"Aww, I know you use my toothbrush."  
"N-no... Well.. yes, but it's about the bomb."  
Steven gasped. "You cracked!"  
"I haven't cracked!"  
"Wait you have to tell the others, they need to know this."  
"No! I don't want to talk to them! You're the only one I need! I can show you now, but I have nothing! My phone, my things, my log, it's all gooone! But all of my logs up to date 6-5-2 still exist, backed up in Amethyst's old house!"  
"You want me to take you to her old home? I don't know, uh..."  
"Steven, don't you want to know about the bomb?"  
"Hmm... okay. We can go to her old house."  
"Ahh, eee, YES!"  
"Bu-u-t-"  
"No... a catch. Fine! What are your demands?"  
"You're gonna to have to hold my hand the whole time."

"Okay, Steven."  
She picked up her phone from the floor and fiddled with the touch screen for a second. "Here you'll find everything you need to know about the bomb."  
Steven stared at it. "Peridot, I don't know what any of this means."  
"Steven!" called Pearl's voice. "Are you alright?"  
"Move aside, Steven," commanded Peridot, pushing Steven aside.  
Amethyst ran into view. "Peridot?"  
"What are you two doing here?" asked Pearl as she walked into the room.  
Garnet caught up to them. "Steven, I thought I told you to keep an eye on her."  
"I know, but--"  
"He did what he was told." She looked at Steven, then at the three women staring at her. "Alright, listen up you clo- nyargh - you guys! I've made up my mind. I have something to tell you about the bomb."


	22. Back to the Barn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot tells the others the details about the bomb and they work out a plan to stop it, however progress is halted when Peridot and Pearl get into a debate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I probably should have mentioned this when Saffron was first mentioned in Catch and Release, but whatever: Normally I try to avoid changing character's names in human AUs even when their canon names are totally unrealistic, but having four Pearls was just too confusing, so here are the Pearl's names:  
> Blue Pearl - Lulu (her real name is Luna but everyone calls her Lulu because I ran out of good girl names that mean blue and Lulu sounds kinda like blue)  
> Yellow Pearl - Saffron  
> Crystal Pearl/Pink Pearl - Pearl (duh)  
> White Pearl - Bianca

"Ahem, ahem. As it seems I have no other options, I have conceded to reveal some important information to you three women."  
Peridot snapped her fingers, cuing Steven to shuffle in. He was wearing a cardboard box with a crudely drawn picture of the beach on it. Peridot, using a flyswatter as a pointer, gestured towards it.  
"This-!"  
"Woah!" said Steven.  
"... Is the beach house. At the very center of the beach, right under the house, lies... the bomb! Rotate."  
Steven rotated, showing that on the other side of the box was a badly drawn diagram of the bomb underneath the house, buried in the sand.  
"This is the bomb, codenamed Cluster. Not terribly powerful, but certainly strong enough to demolish the house and kill anyone in it. It has laid dormant for a few months underneath the sand. When this bomb activates and explodes, the result will be catastrophic. Now!"  
She hit the box again, and Steven rotated back around to see the beach house. After struggling for a few seconds, he managed to tear it up.  
"That is what will happen," explained Peridot. "The force itself isn't terrible, so most people living in the city will be okay. But as I said, anyone inside the house when it goes off is almost guarenteed to die. Even if they survive the initial blast, the debris from the house will kill them. The problem is that now that it had been deployed, it is virtually impossible to defuse it.   
"That abomination must be stopped." said Garnet.   
"But how?" asked Pearl. "We'll need to find some way to either remotely lower the power of the bomb, or to place some sort of shield between it and the house to lessen the force enough to render it harmless.  
Peridot swatted at her. "Hey! I wasn't finished speaking! What we need is to find some way to either lower the power of the bomb, or to place some sort of shield between it and the house to lessen the force enough to render it harmless."  
Pearl glared.  
"Or, alternatively," suggested Peridot. "we could just find somewhere else to live and move all our stuff there."  
"Wait!" yelled Steven. "I have a better idea that doesn't involve destroying the house!"  
Amethyst grinned. "Classic Steven."  
Peridot nodded. "Okay, we'll listen to your plan soon. But first, Pearl, go and make some food."  
"Why do I have to make food?" asked Pearl.  
"Because I said so. Off you go."  
Pearl sighed, standing up. "Okay, what does everyone want?"  
Peridot shook her head. "No, just for you. Just make yourself a meal, and then sit down at this table to eat it while we discuss the plan."  
"Why?"  
"Because I told you to. Go on, we don't have all day."  
Pearl opened her mouth to protest, then closed it and walked off to the kitchen.

"And that's the plan!" finished Steven.  
Pearl quickly swallowed a mouthful of rice. "Okay, we might be able to pull this off. We still have some materials in my room from that time we tried to build a plane."  
"Well then?" demanded Peridot, grabbing the bowl of rice and throwing it out a nearby window. "Go get it!"  
"Peridot," said Pearl, sounding annoyed. "you just threw my bowl out the window."  
"Eh, you were finished anyway, weren't you?"  
"Yes, I was, but -- wait, how did you know? Ugh, never mind."  
She walked off to her room, and came back a few seconds later with her arms full of sheets of metal. Peridot stared at it.  
"Hmm," she said. "Good, yes, this should be adequate. Thank you. You can go now.  
"Uh, what?"  
"Hm? Um, that will be all?"  
Pearl stared at her. She leaned in towards Steven. "How do you get her to leave?" she whispered.  
"Excuse me," said Pearl, her voice like venom. "I am not leaving."  
"Yeah!" agreed Steven. "She's gotta stay here to help us build the shield thing, right?"  
Peridot laughed slightly. "No, no. You're confused. A Filipino can't build a thing like this."  
"Why not?" asked Steven.  
"Because Filipinos aren't good at this! They're meant to just stay inside and not cause trouble while the white kids do things! At least, that's how it is in my family."  
"That's enough!" snapped Pearl. "If we're going to work together, you're going to have to listen to me."  
"Listen to you?" She laughed, then turned to Steven. "Did you teach her to talk like this?"  
"What are you talking about?" asked Steven.  
Peridot scoffed. "She's Filipino. My sister is half Filipino and mother doesn't even let her leave the house if she can help it. Shame to the family."  
"Peridot," said Garnet. "Your mother is so outdated she thinks I should have to stand up on the bus for white people."  
"Woah, woah, hang on guys!" said Steven. "Now, we can all agree that you are both good at building things, so can't you just try listening to each other?"  
"NO!" they shouted together.  
Pearl turned up her nose. "I'm as good at building things as you. Better, even!"  
"Hah! Name one thing you can engineer better! Go on!"  
Steven had an idea.  
"Robots." he whispered.  
"Hmm?"  
"You should build robots. Giant robots! I see a race. A giant robo-race! With prizes! Giant robo-prizes!"  
"You mean like a competition?" asked Pearl.  
"Yeah! To see who's better at building stuff!"  
"Hah," laughed Peridot. "building one of these robots will be easy!"  
"Well, I can build one faster!"  
"That's what you think!"

"Hmm," said Steven. "hmm. Looks like our final score is... a tie! Welp, that settles it. You both get to lead the project together!"  
"No!" protested Peridot. "This isn't over! I demand we have a tiebreaker!"  
Pearl rolled her eyes. "Ugh, let's just give it a rest! That's it, we tied, we're the same, let's move on."  
"No! You're Filipino! You are beneath me! I'll always be better than you and nothing I've seen today will ever change that!"  
Pearl glared. "Well, have you ever seen a Filipino do this!?"  
She kicked Peridot in the chest, the smaller girl landing on her back. Amethyst dropped her popcorn in shock.  
Peridot stood up. "So, you want to fight!? Good. We should've done this from the beginning!"  
She ran forward and tackled Pearl to the ground, and the two started wrestling on the floor.  
"STOP!" yelled Steven. "You shouldn't fight!"  
"Fight, fight, fight, fight!" chanted Amethyst.  
As the two stood up, Peridot pushed Pearl violently, and the taller girl crashed into a wall.  
"Pearl!" yelled Steven.  
Pearl stood up. "It's alright, guys! I've got this."  
"Be careful!"  
"Kick her in the butt!" yelled Amethyst.  
They continued to fight.  
"This is pointless!" shouted Peridot. "There's no way you're gonna beat me! Where do you get off acting like a white girl?! You're just a Filipino!"  
Pearl grimaced, then grinned. "That's right! I am Filipino!" she yelled, punching Peridot in the face.  
"WOOO-HOOOO!" yelled Amethyst.  
Peridot backed away nervously as Pearl continued. "What you're saying may be true, but it doesn't matter! I'm still gonna kick your butt!"  
That was when Peridot jumped.  
She had been backing away just a moment later, so it took Pearl completely by surprise, and that was all it took. Within seconds she had Pearl pinned to the ground with her foot, carelessly kicking her head into the ground.  
"Pearl!" yelled Garnet, Amethyst, and Steven.  
"Ugh..." groaned Pearl as Peridot removed her foot from the taller girl's face.  
Peridot laughed. "Victory is mine! Now I'm the one in charge! Praise me, praise me!"  
"Pearl, are you okay?" asked Steven. He ran over to help her up.  
"Ah, I'm alright."  
Amethyst ran forward and pulled Pearl into a hug. "Yeah, P! Aww, that was awesome! You were hardcore!" She punched Pearl in the arm.  
Pearl rubbed her arm, blushing. "Oh... really?"  
Garnet grinned, placing her hand on Pearl's head. "Oh yeah."  
"Hey! Why aren't you listening to me!? I won! I'm the natural leader here! She's just a weak Filipino!"  
"You're wrong!" shouted Steven. "You saw Pearl, just then. She almost beat you in a fight! She managed to build good enough robots to tie with you! Imagine how useless we would all be if she just stayed in the house and didn't cause trouble!"  
The group stood in silence for a moment.  
"Come on," said Garnet. "let's clean up this mess."  
Amethyst grinned. "Pearl, hah, you should come wrestling with me."  
"Uh... I dunno..."  
"B-b-but I won!" protested Peridot. "What about the rules!?"  
Garnet turned to her, grinning. "Welcome to Beach City."  
Peridot watched as they started to pack up the robots and put them away. She walked up to Pearl and cleared her throat nervously. "I have to admit, it's... remarkable that a Filipino such as yourself could become such a... knowledgeable technician. Mmm..." She looked at the torn up pieces of the cardboard box she and Steven had used to represent the bomb. "Why don't we get started?"  
Steven sighed. "Looks like we're well on our way to stopping the bomb."


	23. Too Far

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot, Steven, and Amethyst go back to Amethyst's old house to retrieve some blueprints, but Peridot is a little too honest.

"Log date 7-11-2. It's the third rotation dau since commencements of a--" she inhaled deeply -- "collaborative approach to stopping The Cluster."  
"I've finished drawing out the blueprints for the shield top layer." called Pearl. "Peridot, if you could come take a look at this."  
"Remind me again why I should listen to you? Oh, right."  
She went through the audio recordings on her phone until she found the right one. _"The Filipino here has exhibited an aptitude for engineering that I begrudgingly respect, though that doesn't explain the spontaneous singing, crying, singing while crying."_  
She quickly hid her phone in her pocket before walking out onto the sandy beach to meet the others. "Before we begin..." She turned to Garnet. "Would you mind leaving? You're making me incredibly uncomfortable."  
There was silence as Pearl, Amethyst, and Steven turned to stare at Garnet.

"WHAT?! ... WHAT'D I SAY?!"  
Steven stared at Peridot, who was tied to the fence with a child leash. "Do we really have to do that?"  
"Her having free reign of the place made me incredibly uncomfortable." said Garnet.  
Steven sighed, handing something to Pearl. "Here you go, Pearl!"  
"Oh, good. Hmm... No... No, no, no, no, I said I needed tungsten. Tungsten?"  
"Uh... what does "tungsten" look like?"  
Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Tungsten." She stuck her tongue out. "Ahh."  
"Ugh..." muttered Pearl. "never mind. I'll just do it."  
Amethyst shrugged, her tongue still out. "Meh.."  
Peridot grunted. "I just need some sort of leverage optimizer."  
Amethyst laughed. ""Leverage optimizer"?"  
"That's what I said."  
"Ooooh! Ha, you mean you want a screwdriver?" She continued laughing.  
"Do you have one or not?"  
"Uh.... why don't you just use this one?" asked Steven, picking up a screwdriver a few feet away from her.  
"Because it was outside my radius." snapped Peridot, snatching the screwdriver.  
Pearl frowned. "I'm not exactly sure how big this needs to be. Peridot, how big is the bomb?"  
"I don't remember," answered Peridot. "but the blueprints have the measurements on them, and they're back at Jasper's old house."  
"Oh, well, I guess that's something you could try."  
"She's not going to the old house without a chaperone!" said Garnet.  
"What?" protested Peridot. "You've got to be joking!"  
"You'll know when I'm joking."  
"Nyahhh..."  
Amethyst stepped forward. "Me and Steven can go with her!"  
"Yeah," agreed Steven. "we'll keep an eye on her."  
Garnet nodded. "Approved. Keep her in line, Amethyst."  
"You got it!"

"This isn't Jasper's old house! This is my old house!"  
Peridot rolled her eyes. "Amethyst, we're both right. You both lived here. Jasper just knows it better, since she was here longer. You were only two when...when it happened."  
"Why was Jasper living in my house?! And why don't I remember her?!"  
Peridot raised an eyebrow. "You were sisters? Don't you remember her at all?"  
"No!"  
"Well, I suppose you were only two. The others trying to stop you from knowing probably didn't help."  
"Wait, what?" choked Steven. "Amethyst and Jasper are related?!"  
"Uh, yeah. Jasper remembers you, I'm surprised you don't remember her. Although, to be honest, she doesn't exactly have positive memories of you."  
Amethyst glared. "What do you mean?"  
"Oh, she's sort of...disowned you. After your parents were arrested she sort of tried to separate herself from the entire family, including you. Frankly, I'm just grateful she didn't try to get you caught up in what she's doing with Lazuli. I mean, there's nothing wrong with you. You're a strong, singular, fully-functional young woman, despite the fact you're disabled."  
Amethyst's face dropped. "Disabled?"  
"Well, sure!" said Peridot, as though it was obvious. "Jasper told me you were born premature, but the last time she saw you, you were too early in development for anyone to be sure about the long-term complications. But now it's obvious! You're a teenager but physically you look like a twelve-year-old and you clearly have some behavior issues, quite possibly ADHD. You're a little overweight, but not nearly as much as you should be with how much you eat. And more importantly, you clearly have undertreated asthma based on your breathing pattern. Pearl wouldn't be the sort of guardian to let something like that go undiagnosed, so I'm going to guess your inhaler is hidden in your room somewhere, and that you don't take it unless absolutely necessary to avoid being seen as 'uncool'. Essentially, you're incredibly underdeveloped for your age and have multiple health problems as a result of your early birth."  
Amethyst growled, grabbing the blueprints and stomping outside.  
"See, look at that! You can do everything a normal person can do. Let's head back, and shove this thing in Pearl's face!"  
"Amethyst?" asked Steven. "Are you ok?"  
"Don't worry about it."

"Oh, it's lovely! To think we'd be using the same technology that started all this to fix it! This drill is pure irony!"  
"Actually, it's mostly carbonite." corrected Peridot.  
Steven grinned. "Would that make it "carbony"?"  
Peridot ignored him, turning to Amethyst. "Hey, Amethyst! Want to help?"  
Amethyst glared. "Whatever, dude." She walked away.  
Peridot stared at her. "That was the incorrect response. Hey, Amethyst isn't helping us. Why isn't she helping?!"  
Steven frowned. "Peridot, you really hurt her feelings."  
"What?"  
"You were pretty mean to her at the old house."  
"Mean? No way! I was being... informative. Amethyst loved it. She's probably telling Pearl how much she learned now." She saw Amethyst walking past and waved frantically. "Amethyst, hi, hi, hi, Amethyst!" She frowned as Amethyst walked out of view. "She... she won't even look at me. It's making me feel... smaller."  
"You feel bad! That's how you made her feel."  
She snorted. "Who cares about how she feels? Who cares about any of you?! You're all just rocks! Ruddy, muddy, clumps beneath my feet!"  
Pearl sighed. "Ugh, another one of her temper tantrums. I'm surprised you two made it back from the old house without driving each other crazy!"  
Amethyst sighed. "Yeah..."

"Hey, um, Amethyst? Can I talk to you in private?"  
Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Fine, come on."  
She walked off, and Peridot followed. "Listen, I... uhm..."  
Amethyst glared. "Just spit it out."  
Peridot blushed and, making sure nobody was looking, took out her phone.  
 _"Log date 7-11-2. This entire place is_ backwards _. There hasn't been one instance of correct behavior exhibited by any one of my captors. I have concluded that they are all insane. But I am no better. I failed my mission and now I'm working with the enemy. And I can't even get that right. I have apparently hurt Amethyst's feelings, which was not my intent. If I've damaged my standing with the best girl here, then I've made a serious mistake. I'm still learning. I hope you understand. I want to understand. I'm sorry. Peridot Diamond. End log."_  
Steven smiled, watching from a distance. "Oh, Peridot."  
"Peridot..." said Amethyst, blushing. "... Thanks."  
Peridot smiled at her.  
"But you're still a nerd." she said before walking off.  
Peridot glared. "I'll be sure to add that to my notes."  
Steven walked over to her. "How do you feel?"  
Peridot paused, deep in thought. "... Big."


	24. The Answer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On Steven's 9th birthday, Garnet tells him the story of how Ruby and Sapphire met.

_"Steven!"_  
_Steven slowly opened his eyes, then gasped at the figure above him. "Garnet! Is it morning already?"_  
_Garnet grinned. "It's midnight! Happy birthday, Steven!"_  
_He sat up in his bed. "Oh man! What's my present! Am I gonna have two moms like you?"_  
_"You already have three moms, Steven. Rose, Pearl and me."_  
_"One of them is dead and two of them aren't related to me! That doesn't count!"_  
_"Good point."_  
_"Hang on," asked Steven. "Pearl told me you need a boy and a girl to do something I'm too young to know about to have a baby. So how did Ruby and Sapphire have you?"_  
_"Well, technically, I'm only Ruby's daughter. My father was chosen at random to allow them to have kids_ , _since they're lesbians."_  
_"Oh okay. Wait, how did Ruby and Sapphire meet? Was it love at first sight?"_  
_Garnet shook her head. "They liked each other when they first met, but that wasn't love at first. Love takes time and love takes work. But I can tell you how they met."_

 _"Beach City, 40 years ago; a young woman was training her teenage daughter to get a good job later in life, and the teenage daughter, though unsure about some of her mother's values, wen along with it. At one point she was sent to do work experience for her mother's company. Her name was Sapphire, and she was a_ pale _teenager, with long platinum blonde hair that covered her eyes. Assigned to help her understand the work were three other teenagers doing work experience at the same place who had been working for quite some time. The three were siblings, possibly triplets, and one of them was named Ruby Corrundum."_  
 _"_ Hey! This box better open!"  
"Haha, yeah! If this thing doesn't open, I'm gonna punch it right in its face!"  
Sapphire Diamond stared at the cardboard box that was apparently so hard to open, then at the three girls assigned to 'help' her. The three were all African-American girls wearing the maroon work uniform who had onyx eyes and square-shaped afros, but that was about all they had in common. The first one to speak, who had complained about the computer, had hair so bright a shade of red that Sapphire suspected she had dyed it, and her short sleeves were rolled up to show her shoulders, so everyone could see the large scar on her upper arm. The second one, the one who had threatened to punch the computer in the face, had black hair and a similar scar on her hand.  
"What are you sayin'? I'm gonna punch it all over its body, and then it'll be over."  
The one with black hair scoffed. "What if, I just punch you!"  
She punched the one with the scar on her arm in the back of her shoulder, and she yelped out in pain. The third girl, who had dark reddish-brown hair and a red bracelet on her left wrist, sighed.  
"Oh, come on. We'll punch it together. That's why they sent, uh, three of us?"  
"Three this!"  
The one with bright red hair pushed the one with the bracelet, knocking her backwards into Sapphire. She quickly looked behind her, turning red as she realised who she had hit.  
"Oh, I, um, I'm so sorry, I, let me, uh..."  
"I'm fine."  
"What?"  
"It's okay," said Sapphire. "It was bound to happen."  
"I, uh... okay."  
"Now please be quiet. I must attend to my duties."  
"Right."  
"Mmm."  
"Yes."  
As the box finally started opened, Sapphire looked at the envelopes inside, trying to remember the instructions she had been given. It was a few seconds before the door burst open. A woman walked inside, a tall pale woman with blue eyes and light blue hair wearing a dark blue dress, with a diamond-shaped gem Her name was Blue Diamond.  
"Sapphire had been called by her mother Blue Diamond, specifically to see how she was doing at the job."  
"Mother, I've arrived."  
_"Blue Diamond spoke."_  
"Sapphire, tell me what your job is."  
Sapphire struggled to remember. "Uh, I have to...umm...check the letters on your behalf and let you know of any that are of interest."  
"Thank you, Sapphire."  
 _"Blue Diamond said, relieved."_  
"That's all I needed to know."  
Sapphire nodded. "I look forward to speaking with you again."  
 _"It was a simple job," narrated Garnet. "But the girls assigned to help Sapphire were more of a hindrance than a help. The one with the bracelet, whose name was Ruby, was trying to help her while the other two were mucking about._ Eventually _the two started play-fighting, and in their_ excitement _they once again accidentally knocked Ruby into Sapphire."_  
Their faces were so close together, just for a moment, their lips touched... and they didn't want it to stop.  
They could have just separated then and passed it off as being nothing, but the second they felt how amazing the kiss felt they couldn't stop. Ruby lifted Sapphire up in her excitement as they kissed passionately, until finally Sapphire realized what she was doing and pulled away.  
"Wha..." choked Ruby, rubbing blue lipstick off of her lips. "What...?!"  
"What..." muttered Sapphire, looking down at herself with disgust at having enjoyed it. "What is this?"  
"The furious crowd closed in around Ruby and Sapphire. They'd never seen a kiss between two girls, let alone a black girl and a white girl."  
"Unbelievable! Disgusting! This is unheard of!"  
 _"Blue Diamond's voice cut through the crowd."_  
"Sapphire! You, kissing a girl! I will not tolerate homosexual acts in my workplace...or in my family!"  
"This is... not what I wanted!" stuttered Sapphire. "I don't know what happened, I..."  
Ruby stepped forward. "No! It was me!"  
Blue Diamond scowled. "Clearly."  
_"Said_ Blue _Diamond."_  
"How dare you kiss my daughter?"  
"Forgive me, I... !"  
"You will be fired for this! And I will be sure to tell your mother, so that she can kick you out of her house herself!"  
The crowd was closing in on them. Sapphire hesitated, then grabbed Ruby's hand and ran.  
"Waaaiiit!!" yelled Ruby hopelessly. "What are you doooiiing!? Nooo!!"

"Ugh, why'd you do that!? I have to get you back up there!"  
"They were gonna kick you out!"  
"Who cares!? It's just me!"  
Rain poured down on them from above, on the streets of Beach City. Panic flooded Ruby's mind. "Gahh! What do we do now!?"  
"Sapphire had known every moment of her life. How it would happen, and when. But because of Ruby's impulsive gesture, she suddenly jumped the track of fate, and everything from that instant on was wrong, and new. She couldn't see, she couldn't move."  
"Ah! We have to get you... out of here!"  
In a panic, Ruby grabbed Sapphire's hand and pulled her out to the beach. She hesitated, looking back, and said, "Come on."  
As they trudged in the sand, soon they found a cave in the side of a hill that could offer them some shelter from the pelting rain. It wasn't much, but it was dry.  
"Alright, this should be good for now."  
Sapphire's cheeks went red as she sat down on the cave floor. She brushed her hair out of her face. Ruby watched in shock, blushing furiously, as she finally saw Sapphire's eyes.  
Her left eye was a perfect shade of blue, but her right eye was closed completely, her eyelid not even fluttering as she blinked. Towards the right side of her face was a huge diagonal scar that looked as though it was from a knife, and suddenly Ruby had a great urge to find out where the scar had come from and punch whoever made it in the face.  
"Thank you..." muttered Sapphire.  
That was what set her off.  
"Thank you?! Thank you?! What kind of helper am I supposed to be? Look at this! It's my fault you're stranded here. How am I gonna save you?"  
"You already did."  
"What!?"  
"You already saved me."  
Ruby sniffled, sitting down next to Sapphire. She looked at herself, then at the girl next to her, in confusion.  
"I... I've seen people kiss before," said Sapphire. "but I had no idea that's what it felt like. I always thought... I never realized that love... that'd you'd disappear like that."  
"It's never like that!" said Ruby. "Whenever I've kissed boys, it's always just been like normal, but some dude's lips are touching me..."  
"That was my first kiss! It was nice."  
Ruby blushed. "Ha... yeah..."  
She looked down at herself. She had kissed boys before, sure, but she had never really enjoyed it, or even known that she was supposed to enjoy it. When her sisters talked about how much they liked boys, she had always assumed they were exaggerating, but the kiss with Sapphire had made her reconsider. Maybe, just maybe...  
As the rain cleared outside and the sun came out, the two nervously walked out of the cave, and they started to sing.  
 _"Where did we go?_  
 _What did we do?_  
 _I think we made something_  
 _Entirely new_  
 _And it wasn't quite me_  
 _And it wasn't quite you_  
 _I think it was someone_  
 _Entirely new."_  
 _"Oh,"_ sung Ruby, blushing furiously. _"_ um _..._  
Well _I just can't stop thinking..."_  
 _"So,"_ continued Sapphire. _"_ um _..._  
 _Did you say I was different?_  
 _"And you hadn't before?"_  
 _"Of course not! When would I have ever?"_  
 _"I'm so sorry --"_  
 _"No, no, don't be!"_  
 _"And now you're here forever!"_  
 _"What about you?"_  
 _"What about me?"_  
 _"Well, you're here too,_  
 _We're here together..."_

 _"What happened next?" asked Steven eagerly. "Did they go and get married and live happily ever after?"_  
_"Of course they did, Steven, but not right away. It took a long time for them to be able to find a house to live in after their parents disowned them, and even longer for them to be able to have me."_  
_"Wait, so where did they live before they found a house? How old were they when you were born? Does that mean you don't know your grandparents? What about your dad? Why did they want to have kids?"_  
_Garnet sighed affectionately. "I asked myself those same questions when I was your age, Steven. Well, when I was a bit older than you. I was being bullied at school for having two moms, and I was unsure about myself and my family. But I didn't want to offend them, so I turned to Rose for answers."_  
_"And what did she say?"_  
_"Ah, I remember it well..."_

"Hey, Rose, could I talk to you in private?"  
Pearl glared at Garnet for a moment, then rolled her eyes and started talking to Bismuth, as though giving Garnet permission to talk to Rose. Meanwhile, the light-skinned teenager stood up, her pink curls bouncing on her shoulders, and smiled warmly.  
"Okay, where do you want to go?"  
Garnet felt her cheeks going red as she adjusted her sunglasses. "Behind A-Block, near the garden. Come on, let's go."  
Rose nodded and the two stood up, Rose lifting up her long white dress so that she could walk without tripping on it. They walked over to the space behind A-Block that Garnet had mentioned, then decided that that wasn't private enough and went into the garden, standing behind a tree for good measure, then decided that the tree wasn't a good enough hiding spot and sat in a bush.  
Rose raised an eyebrow. "You do know people can hear us even if they can't see us, right?"  
"It doesn't matter. Look...you know about my parents, right?"  
"Your moms?" said Rose, and the second she saw the way Garnet's face fell she knew she was right. "Yeah, I know about them."  
It was hard not to know about them. Garnet normally took the train home on her own, but Ruby and Sapphire had had to come into the school one day a few weeks back for parent-teacher night. Someone had seen Garnet referring to both of them as her mother and the word spread around the school until there wasn't a single person who didn't know about them.  
There was silence between them, and Rose muttered, "Are you letting them get to you?"  
"Of course they're getting to me!" snapped Garnet. "How would you like it if you couldn't even walk to class without hearing everyone whispering about you when you think you can't hear?! Would you let it get to you if people were yelling slurs at you in plain sight and the teachers didn't care enough to do anything?!"  
Rose sighed. "Garnet, calm down--"  
"Don't tell me to calm down! You have no idea what it's like! You and Pearl and Bismuth are the only ones who are still friends with me! Everyone else is just spreading more rumours about my family! You don't know how it feels to have people talking about you like that!"  
"No," said Rose coldly. "but my girlfriend does."  
Pearl. Guilt surged through Garnet's veins as she realised how inconsiderate she was being. Pearl was being bullied too, and while Garnet had only been dealing with it for a few weeks, Pearl had been facing bullying since at least the start of year nine, if not middle school. And Pearl had to deal with her unsupportive mother, while she had perfectly kind and loving parents, even if they were both women.  
"I'm sorry," she muttered, taking off her sunglasses as tears started to fall down her cheeks. "It's just...Why couldn't they just be straight? Why can't I just have a mom and a dad like everyone else? Why do I even exist?!"  
"No more questions. Don't _ever_ question this." Rose took Garnet's hands in her own. "You already are the answer."

 _"So_... ? _What was it?"_  
_Garnet raised an eyebrow._  
_"The answer," said Steven._  
_Garnet grinned, leaning in closer. "_ Love. _" she whispered._  
_"Wow... I knew it."_  
_"So did I."_


	25. It Could've Been Great

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot tells Steven about her family.

"Steven."  
Steven smiled warmly. "Hi!"  
Peridot glared. "Why did we stop working on the shield?! Why are they just sitting there looking at nothing?!"  
"We worked hard and we deserve to take it easy for a little bit. I mean just look at that view. It's beautiful."  
"It's going to be blown to oblivion by the bomb if we don't get back to work!"  
"Working hard is important, but feeling good is important too."  
"What are you talking about?!"  
She accidentally pressed a button on the drill she was holding and it made a buzzing noise.  
"Hey!" exclaimed Steven. He imitated the buzz. "What is that, a C?" He played the noise on his ukelele.   
Peridot raised an eyebrow. "The drill?" she asked, making it buzz again.  
"Yeah!" The drill buzzed in a higher pitch and his eyes lit up. "Oh my gosh, now it's music!"  
"Music?"  
"Yeah! It's music! Like this, do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do." He strummed the ukelele.  
"Do-mi-so-do..." muttered Peridot.  
"Isn't it pretty?"  
"That's exceedingly simple," she muttered as he strummed the ukelele again. "Do-mi-so-ti..."  
"We're making music!"  
"What is the point? You're not making anything."  
"Well, if it isn't anything, then why does it sound so good?"  
"I suppose it's just interest... Do-mi-so-do. Devoid of substance or purpose, a hypothetical pattern... Do-mi-so-ti. For the satisfaction of bringing it to completion."  
"Sure."  
"Do-mi-so-ti. Interest without meaning? Solutions without problems?"  
"And then you just add words. Here's what I have been working on.  
 _"Life and death and love and birth,"_ he sung.  
 _"And peace and war on the planet Earth._  
 _Is there anything that's worth more_  
 _Than peace and love on the planet Earth_  
 _Oh - Whooah, come on and sing it with me..."_  
"Sing?!" choked Peridot. "What would Mother say..."  
 _"The words relate to the key..."_  
"Key?!" choked Peridot, holding up a small silver key.  
 _"If it's a pattern,_  
 _If it's a pattern,_  
 _Then just repeat after me..._  
 _Life and death and love and birth-"_  
 _"Life and death and love and birth..."_ she repeated reluctantly.  
"Now you sing _mi-fa-mi-mi-fa-mi-ti-la!"_  
 _"And peace and war on the planet earth!"_ they sang together.  
"That's so easy." scoffed Peridot.  
"Yeah," said Steven. "but that's what's fun about it. You should write something, you should write a song!"  
"About what?"  
"Whatever you're thinking!"

So Peridot Diamond did write a song, and it was about whatever she was thinking. She called Amethyst, Pearl, Steven, and Garnet to sit with her on the beach so she could perform it to them.  
She was sure they would love it.  
She may have miscalculated slightly.  
 _"I guess we're already here,_  
 _I guess we already know._  
 _We've all got something to fear,_  
 _We've all got nowhere to go._  
 _I think you're all INSANE!_  
 _But I guess I am too..._  
 _Anybody would be_  
 _If they were stuck on Earth with you!"_  
 _Steven laughed. "Yes! Life and death and love and birth and-"_  
 _"Life and death and love and birth and-" repeated Amethyst._  
 _"Life and death and love and birth and_  
 _Peace and war on the planet Earth." finished Pearl._  
 _"Is there anything that's worth more?" sang Garnet._  
 _"Is there anything that's worth more?" continued Steven, nudging Peridot._  
 _Peridot sighed. "Is there anything that's worth more_  
 _Than peace and love on the planet Earth..."_

"Nice work."  
Peridot jumped in fear as Garnet patted her on the back, prompting laughter from her former captors as Steven pulled her into a hug.  
She looked at the shield "We really did it, huh?"  
Steven gasped. "We?"  
Peridot ignored him. "Oh wait. I need to check something!"  
"She's come so far," said Steven. "It feels like yesterday she was trying to kill us."  
"No no," corrected Pearl. "that was several weeks ago."  
"A drill!" yelled Peridot. "We forgot that we need some sort of massive drill in order to get under the house!"   
Pearl thought over it briefly. "There's a Diamond Base that may have a drill which we can use, but it will take several hours to get there by train."  
Steven grinned. "Well then, we'd better get to the station quickly!"

"Gee, this place is old!" said Steven, looking around the mansion. He stared at a mural on the wall depicting a pale woman with long, flowing blonde hair, wearing a necklace with a blue diamond and a long blue dress. "Hey Peridot, who is this supposed to be?"  
Peridot looked at the mural. "It's Blue Diamond! Wait! Are they all here? Ahh yes! There she is!"  
"Who?"  
She ignored him and ran over to another mural, this one depicting a woman with spiky blonde hair and a yellow outfit. "Behold! Yellow Diamond! Isn't she magnificent?!"  
"Wow... so who are the Diamonds anyway? They seem like a big deal."  
"Are you joking me?!" choked Peridot. "The Diamonds are my family! Yellow Diamond is my own mother, and the other Diamonds are her own sisters! We live to serve them!"  
Garnet cleared her throat, glaring furiously at Peridot.  
Peridot laughed nervously. "I mean, I live to serve them...you guys don't...so you don't have to serve them...but it would be totally cool if you would...Hey, I think the drill would be in there! Come on, let's go!"

"Aha, see! We have the drill! Come on, let's go home!"  
Steven tried to get their attention, but they were too busy listening in awe as Peridot rambled about her family.  
"They're even staff members for the school I go to! They suggested many policies, but sadly most of them were rejected. My personal favorite was the suggestion that they raise the school fees in order to make a profit so that the children of staff members could have a better experience."  
Garnet glared. "Passing that policy would have made it impossible for poor students to attend the school!"  
"But think of the good it would have done. The changes that would have been made, our family expanded."  
"Rose Quartz," said Pearl curtly. "believed all people were precious, and deserved to have the same opportunities."  
"Well if she wanted to 'give everyone the same opportunities' she did a lousy job! Just look at the statistics. People still struggle to get jobs due to being transgender. Employers are still reluctant to hire black people. Disabled people still can't get accommodations. So congrats, Rose Quartz! You barely made a dent!"  
Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl looked at Peridot with fury.  
Steven laughed nervously. _"Is there anything that's worth more th-?"_  
Garnet picked Peridot up by the shirt. "You, listen to me, now. You are talking about things that you do not understand..."  
"Garnet, stop!" yelled Steven. "Please! It's not worth it. We're done here, let's just... go home."  
Garnet dropped Peridot and stomped off. Pearl and Amethyst followed angrily, leaving a confused Peridot behind. "What did I say? I'm just stating a fact. She didn't really make a difference, she just made it look like she did."  
Steven sighed. "That's not the way they see it. They've spent years trying to protect people. I thought maybe, you finally understood why."


	26. Message Recieved

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot tries to contact her mother.

"Peridot, I need to talk to you."  
Peridot turned to face Steven, blushing. "Uhhh, yeah! Sure!"  
He dragged her into Greg's van and she stared around in confusion. "Why are we in this broken-down vehicle?"  
Steven bit his lip. "I wanted to ask you...about the Diamonds?"  
"Oh! I don't know what the others have told you, but there's a reason I'm so loyal to them. "  
"Why's that?"  
"They're objectively better than us. Every person has their strengths and weaknesses, but not them. They're absolutely totally completely flawless beings! Especially my mother, Yellow Diamond, the most perfect, the most reasonable, rational, efficient decider ever to exist in the universe!"  
"You're really loyal to her, aren't you?"  
"How could I not be? We might have our little truce, but I'll never forsake the woman I was made for!"  
"That's good, because... she's right behind you!"  
"What?"  
She looked behind her, and Steven took the chance to grab her phone from her back pocket, then jump out of the van and lock her in. She banged against the window. "Ahh, no! Ahh!"  
"Save your strength! You're up against one of the earth's greatest trapping technologies, the child safety lock!"  
She gasped. "Oh, no! How could you do this to me, the great and lovable Peridot?! I thought we were finally friends like you wanted..."  
"I saw you sneak this off from Amethyst's house while nobody else was looking!" He held up the phone. "I was going to let you keep it, but I'm not sure I can trust you after yesterday."  
"No! I need that to call Mother!"  
He glared. "You're still trying to contact her?"  
"Yes, of course! I figured it out. You simple clods keep trying to protect people, but you can't do anything right! I let myself get carried away, too... laughing, singing, building our little machine... but don't you see? None of that matters! All that matters is that I'm of use to Yellow Diamond! This information can be of use to Yellow Diamond! I must contact her, to reveal what I've discovered!"  
"But the Diamonds are bad! They're racist and homophobic and mean!"  
"Yes, yes! That's the point!"  
"Why do I keep sticking my neck out for you? You're never gonna be on our side! Garnet! Amethyst! Pearl!"  
"Steven, no! Don't get them. Steven! Release me!"

"She took a direct line to the Diamonds! What was she thinking?"  
Pearl shook her head.  
"Man," sighed Amethyst. "after everything we've gone through, she's still out to get us! Ohh, I'm takin' back all my cool nicknames for her! So long, Peri and P-dot, hello... Ahhh, I'm too mad! I'll think of something later."  
"You offered her a lot of your trust."  
"I did! And it blew up in my face. You guys have been protecting people for years. She could've destroyed all of that. She could have let us die, why did I think I could change her mind?"  
"Ugh, I know right?" complained Amethyst. "But I guess you can't like go into peoples heads and change how they think. Maybe we can? Yeaaah if we just shrink down really little-"  
"No no no, I don't want to tell her what to do. She should just know. Shouldn't she?"  
"It's 'cause you believe in everyone Steven." explained Garnet. "Like your mother, you seem to have a little more patience than the rest of us. But the truth is, not everyone deserves that patience."  
"Look on the bright side," advised Pearl. "At least you got this thing away from her before she did any real damage."  
"... Yeah."  
They couldn't have been more wrong.

It was about five minutes before Peridot figured out how to unlock the van from the inside, and about another two minutes before she grabbed her phone out of his hands.  
Steven gasped. "How did you escape?!"  
"Through the door." she answered, and then she ran.  
"Stupid Peridot!" yelled Steven. "Oh why, oh why did I have to encourage her?"  
Garnet put a hand on his shoulder. "There's no time for feeling horrible. We have to catch Peridot before she contacts Yellow Diamond."  
"That's right," agreed Pearl. "You can feel horrible all you want in a few minutes."  
They ran after her until eventually they found her on the beach, far from the house or the city, and Steven grabbed her arm. "You're not getting away with it!" he yelled. "I trusted you! I spend all that time bonding and hoping and caring about you!"  
"You don't get it either! This is your whole prooobleeem! Your emotions rule out reason! I will do what has to be done!"  
"Wh-"  
She pushed him out of the way and Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl ran to check on him. They were too busy checking if he was okay to notice what Peridot was doing on her phone until Steven frantically gestured for them to hide behind a rock and watch as a video call started.  
Peridot giggled. "She'll sort this out."  
"P-Peridot?!"  
The speaker was a dark-skinned woman with spiky blonde hair and a smug look on her face that made it look like she hadn't stopped showing off for more than five minutes since the day she was born. She had onyx eyes and was wearing a yellow dress with pale yellow stockings and a necklace with a small round gem, and Steven privately thought that if he ever decided to become a cannibal, then she would be more sour and yellow than a hundred lemons.  
"Hey," said Amethyst. "is she Filipino?"  
Steven looked up at Pearl expectantly. "Who is she?"  
"Ugh, not all Asians know each other Steven."  
Maybe if she had paid a little more attention, she would have seen _his_ pointy nose, or _his_ skinny frame, or _his_ dark brown hair at the routes where the blonde dye had faded. But she was too busy focusing on what Peridot was saying. To be fair, it had been, what was it, 28 years?  
"Hello, Saffron," said Peridot. "Mother is refusing to answer my calls. Could I speak with her using yours?"   
"Of course," said Saffron smugly. "Anything for another Diamond..."  
She walked off-screen, and returned a minute or so later accompanied by a taller woman with dirty blonde hair in a pixie cut and angry blue eyes. She wore a yellow dress with puffy shoulders and bright yellow gloves covering her hands. Her skin was even paler than Peridot's and she seemed to have a perpetual scowl on her face.  
Amethyst's jaw dropped. "Is that..."  
"Yellow..." continued Pearl.  
"Diamond!" snarled Garnet.  
"My diamond!" exclaimed Peridot, blushing. "Peridot, reporting in."  
"I noticed," the woman said curtly. "How is your mission going?"  
"I have been able to track down four of the six problematic people that you ordered me to take. I am unable to overpower them physically, but they are under the impression that I am their ally, meaning we could easily arrange and ambush attack."  
"Thank you, Peridot," said Yellow Diamond. "I will send Jasper and some others down to ambush them. Thank you for your contributions."  
"Wait! I-I wouldn't have called just to ask for reinforcements."  
"You already have."  
"No, I mean... the real reason I called... the real reason is... I believe we should cancel my current mission."  
Yellow paused. "Why?"  
"They are relatively known social justice activists. Being their ally would improve our image tenfold! I believe we should change our image to be more...updated. Politically correct. I mean, just think of how many - "  
"I've heard enough! I don't care about being 'politically correct'. I don't care about our image."  
"What?!"  
"I want my mission completed, and I want those low-life scum to die. Just make that happen."  
Peridot paused nervously. "...No!"  
Saffron gasped. Yellow glared. "Are you questioning my authority?!"  
"I'm...questioning your objectivity! My Diamond."  
"Well!" mocked Saffron.  
Yellow grinned. "You are out of line."  
"I just think -"  
"I'm not interested in the puny thoughts of an autist -"  
"But -"  
"You have disrespected your sister and my time with your presence and you would do well to -"  
"But -"  
"Shut your mouth! You have failed at every stage of this mission. Your only chance to redeem yourself is to obey this simple order. You are to come home immediately and forget about everything the rebels have told you. Is that clear?!"  
"I won't do it! I can tell you with certainty that there are people outside of our family worth protecting!"  
"What do you know about people?!"  
"Apparently more than YOU! You... BITCH!"  
Yellow Diamond glared with pure fury in her eyes. "PERIDOT! That's it! You are officially no longer welcome in our household! From this day onward, you are not part of the Diamond family!"  
Peridot quickly hung up and turned her phone off before her mother could call back, shaking. Steven jumped out from behind the rock. "That was AMAZING!"  
"I can't believe I just did that..." she stuttered.  
"I was so wrong about being so wrong about you!"  
"I can't believe I just did that..." she repeated.  
Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl came out too. Garnet put a hand on her shoulder. "You thought you could change her mind."  
"Yellow D got torn down by the Peri-Dactyl!" yelled Amethyst.  
"I thought I could reason with her..."  
"Yeah. You really made her mad."  
"And then you insulted her to her face." added Pearl.  
"Do you know what this means?!" asked Steven.  
She gulped. "That I'm a traitor to my family?"  
"You're part of our family!" He pulled her into a hug.  
"Whether you like it or not." added Garnet.


	27. Log Date 7 15 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot struggles to get used to her new home and school.

_"Log date 7 15 2... I can't believe I just did that! I disobeyed my orders and went against Yellow Diamond's wishes! I'm a traitorous idiot! I never want to think about what I've done again!"_  
 _She smiled in pure delight. "_ Yehahaha _! And I called Yellow Diamond a bitch right to her face!"_  
 _She dropped to her knees, whimpering. "I called Yellow Diamond a bitch... right to her face!"_  
 _"Uh, Peridot?" asked Steven nervously. "Are you gonna be okay?"_  
 _She turned to him with a deranged smile. "No!"_  
 _"It's all gonna work out. You're with us now."_  
 _"You don't understand! I'm protecting people I was once trying to kill! I used to follow every order. Every rule. Now I'm a traitor. A rebel!"_  
 _"Well... keeping a diary on your phone seems to be helping."_  
 _She threw her phone in fury. "_ No _it's not!" The phone hit Garnet in the face. "It's a chronicle of my descent into madness!"_  
 _Garnet walked up to Peridot with the phone in her hand. "You dropped this."_  
 _"Get it away from me. Give it to Steven; return madness to its source!"_  
 _Steven bit his lip as Garnet handed it to him. "Are you sure you don't want it?"_  
 _"Whatever, it's yours now. Yours, not mine, not mine! Yours! Yours!"_  
 _Garnet put a hand on her shoulder. "Let's calm down."_  
 _"Okay..." muttered Peridot as Garnet lifted her up. "So am I gonna have to wear a star?" Garnet carried her away. "Where am I gonna put the star?!"_  
 _Steven looked at the two. "They seem to be getting along well. I wonder when that happened..."_  
 _He looked at the phone in his hand._  
 _Now, of course, he would never read somebody else's diary. But this wasn't reading, it was watching._

 _"Log date 7 11 2. Steven's family has enrolled me in the local high school since I will no longer be able to go to Diamond Academy as I am not living with my mother. As all of my school supplies are at my home, I have had to buy all new items. Currently I am waiting at the bus stop with him and his weird Samoan sister, who he wants me to stop calling his weird Samoan sister."_  
"It's just Amethyst," corrected Steven.  
She hissed at him, then said into her phone, _"I said I'll call her whatever I want."_  
He wagged his finger. "Rude!"  
 _"He said that was rude. I guess I'll call her... Amethyst."_

 _"I am currently at school. It is lunchtime now. I am sitting with Amethyst's friends, a group known as 'the Cool Kids', including a girl named 'Jenny' and two boys named 'Buck' and 'Sour Cream'. Also sitting with us is 'Sadie', a nice girl who took the responsibility of helping me on my first day, and 'Lars', who seems to be incredibly desperate to be friends with the 'Cool Kids'."_  
Lars blushed, then glared at Amethyst. "Ugh, Amy, why don't you go take your pet nerd somewhere else?!"

_"Amethyst suggested that we go to class early. She seems angry with me. I can't imagine why."_

_"Log Date 7 12 2. Today marks the 30th day since my... capture."_  
Steven walked up to her, holding two paint cans. "Happy one month canniversary!"  
She stared at them. "Cylinders?"  
"They're stilts. You tie them on to your feet and then make you taller. I tried to spruce them up a bit. I dunno what it is about flames, but they just make everything cooler."  
"Why are you giving me these?"  
"Because I want you to feel nice! That's what gifts are for. You give them to your friends to show you care. And they go "wow, thanks!""  
"Hef! As if I'd stoop so low as to tie trash to my body. Leave me! Go-go-go-go! And WOW THANKS!"

"Why yes Pearl, I did get taller. How correct for you to notice. Of course, Amethyst, I will acquire those Chee-Z Chaps from that very high shelf. Hahaha! They even function in reverse!"  
She tripped over a rock.

"Jokes." She cleared her throat. "Why did the chicken cross the road? ... The chicken wanted to get the other side of the road. ..." She forced a laugh.  
She watched as Steven inserted VHS tape into the TV. _"It seems these ones are constantly filling the voids of their life with meaningless distractions."_  
 _"On the last episode of Camp Pining Hearts..."_  
 _"I don't care if you're on the yellow team_ Percy _. We can make this work."_  
 _"It's color war_ Paulette _. Does that mean anything to you?"_  
Peridot scoffed. "How could anyone indulge in this?! Baseless drivel, I'll have no part of it!"

 _"Hour 78 of Camp Pining Hearts."_  
 _"_ It's the color war Paulette, doesn't that mean anything to you?"  
Steven walked into the room. "Uh, you've been here for a few days, is everything okay?"  
Peridot blushed. "I've just been.. watching your previously recorded entertainment."  
"Is that... the same episode from three days ago?"  
"There's more than one?"   
"Ummmm... nah." He shrugged."Oh, you made a picture." He reached down to grab the piece of paper in front of her.   
"Picture? This isn't just a picture Steven! It's a complex chart cataloging the compatible characteristics between campers." She held up the chart. "Somehow the rejects at "Camp Clod" fail to recognize the superior pair that is Pierre and Percy."  
"Well, that's because Paulette likes Percy."  
"Paulette? Ha! Paulette has no place in the camp's hierarchy. Now Pierre, Pierre is a brute, Pierre laid waste to the three legged races! Pierre and Percy present the strongest battle formations, they'd destroy the camp!"  
"You got all this from one episode?"  
"It's... subtext Steven. Allow me to explain. Well, first of all, Percy and Pierre are on the yellow team, and als--"  
 _Steven looked at the phone in annoyance. "Ugh, I remember this part." He pressed the fast-forward button._  
"... And that's why Percy and Pierre are objectively the best for each other!"

"Log Date 7 13 2. I am currently in math class. I'm not meant to be logging in class, but the teacher granted me permission bec _ause I completed all of my work. Surprisingly, though I have a few complaints on the work ethic of-"_  
"Heyyyy!"  
Amethyst giggled as she shoved a drawing of Lion, Steven's cat, into Peridot's face.   
"Amy!" snapped the teacher. "Are you sketching in class again!"  
"Aww... Come on sir, I'm just tryin'ta lion the mood." She paused. "Lion the mood."  
The teacher rolled his eyes and walked off. Peridot raised an eyebrow. "Do you always use your class time like this?"  
"You mean to be really cool?" she answered as she started sketching Peridot. "Pretty much."  
"But it's such a-"  
"Significant use of time compared to the output."  
"What was that?" choked Peridot.  
Amethyst grinned. "I've been practicing my 'Peri' phrasing, pretty impressive in my opinion but it's hard to beat the original."  
Peridot blushed. "Hehehe. So, can you draw anything?"  
"Sure. Got a request?"

 _"Okay, go!"_  
 _"Log date seven fourteen two_. _" said Garnet's voice._  
 _"No, you say it seven one four two." corrected Peridot. "Ugh! Log date 7 14 2. Today I talked to Garnet about the key differences between the two opposing movements 'All Lives Matter' and 'Black Lives Matter'. I intended to gain a better understanding of Garnet's culture._ Instead _I gained a better understanding of Garnet."_  
 _"Wait, " interrupted Garnet. "keep it on a moment. Steven, you probably shouldn't have listened to Peridot's logs, but I know your curiosity comes from a place of caring. You should give the recorder back to her now. She's going to want to keep it."_  
 _"Wait, what?" choked Peridot._  
 _Garnet winked. "You can't have Sapphire as your mum without picking up a few things."_  
 _Steven stared at the phone in confusion. "But - how did she -"_  
 _"Elementary, my dear Steven." answered a voice behind him. It was Garnet. "Elementary."_


	28. Super Watermelon Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst rush to help when Lapis and Jasper get into a fight.

She gasped for air. She knew she had to keep going, she knew she had to save her, but how long could she keep running? Jasper was getting further ahead of her by the second, and she showed no signs of tiring. Even if she did catch up, what would she do? There was no way she could overpower jasper on her own, no matter how hard she tried.  
Maybe she tripped, or maybe her legs just decided they were sick of running, but either way she ended up on the ground. She took that as a sign that it was hopeless. She wasn't giving up, not yet. But she also wasn't going to keep running.  
With shaking hands, she took her phone out of her pocket. She had known she would be in trouble if Jasper saw the number saved in her phone, so she had luckily managed to memorize it. Her hands were so shaky she doubted her ability to dial the number, but she didn't know if she could afford to waste time slowing down. She let it ring for a few seconds before he answered, and she practically screamed into the phone.  
"Steven! Steven, are you there?!"  
"Lapis?" answered the voice on the phone. "Are you okay?"  
"No!" she screamed. She knew she sounded hysterical and she didn't care. "She's - She's got Mala! She's got Mala and - and I don't know where she's going!"  
"Woah, Lapis, calm down. Tell me what's happening."  
"It's Jasper," she sobbed. "She...She's taking Malachite somewhere...Please, I just want my baby to be okay..."  
"It's gonna be okay, Lapis. Don't worry, we'll get help for you. Keep your phone with you and try to follow Jasper, then Garnet and Pearl will be able to track your location and get to you. I promise, Mala's going to be okay."

Amethyst coughed out a bite of her sandwich.  
"Steven," said Pearl in a slightly annoyed tone. "I know we have to go help Lapis now, but must you make commitments like that on our behalf without consulting us? I mean, we were right here the whole time you were on the phone, it was on speaker, we heard everything -"  
"As of twenty days ago I'm a legal adult in the Harry Potter universe!" interrupted Amethyst. "So I should get to come!"  
Pearl glared. "Amethyst, you're far too young!"  
"She is seventeen." said Garnet. "We'll need all the help we can get. Okay, Amethyst, you can come."  
"As of ten days ago I'm half the age of a legal adult!" said Steven hopefully. "So I can come too, right?"  
"Not a chance." said Garnet. "Nice try, though. Peri, you stay here and take care of Steven."

Garnet was in front, leading the way and clearing a path. Pearl was right behind her, staring at the phone in her hand to track where Lapis was. Amethyst was at the back, watching to see if Pearl was going to walk into anything so that she could laugh when she did and get told off by Garnet.  
"Uhh, Garnet?" asked Pearl after what seemed like hours. "I have good news and bad news..."  
"Good news first."  
"Okay...well, the good news is that we won't need to be changing direction much anymore."  
"And the bad news?" asked Amethyst anxiously.  
"Is that Steven just messaged me saying that Lapis just messaged him saying that she thinks she and Jasper are about to have a fight on the beach while trying to drown each other."  
Garnet adjusted her sunglasses. "Well, shit." she said calmly, and then she ran.

They got there just in time.   
Lapis and Jasper were in the water a few feet from the beach. Lapis was desperately clutching Malachite in her arms, struggling to keep the baby out of the water, while Jasper stood over her, grabbing her arms and trying to pry them apart like a kid trying to steal another kid's toy.  
Garnet was the first in, running forward and jumping into the water as she pushed Jasper away from Lapis. Pearl was next, letting out a girlish squeal as the water splashed her. Amethyst stopped for a second before getting into the water, taking the time to tear her shirt off to reveal her black bra, and then she dived in after them.  
"Amethyst!" scolded Pearl. "Was that really necessary?!"  
"Eh, you'll thank me later," answered Amethyst. "Come on!"  
She and Pearl stood in front of Lapis, Amethyst facing away from her to watch Jasper while Pearl focused on checking Lapis's injuries. Meanwhile, Jasper and Garnet were engaged in another fight. Jasper let out a menacing laugh as she stood over her, and with one swift movement of her arm, she knocked Garnet down face-first into the water.   
Garnet was quick to rise again, gasping for air, but Jasper knelt down, grabbing a fistful of her curly black hair and pushing her down again. "Not so much stronger than me now, eh?"

Now, as much as I hate to leave you hanging, I must interupt the story at this crucial point to tell you some important facts. You must remember these facts until the end of the chapter, and you will also unfortunately have to do a little bit of math in order to use the facts I have given you to your advantage.  
The first fact is of somewhat less importance than the other two facts. The first fact is as follows:  
Despite living right next to a literal beach, Pearl never learned how to swim.  
She agreed to come help Lapis when she didn't know where Jasper was taking Malachite, and she couldn't exactly leave half-way through the trip/ She managed to keep Amethyst from knowing this fact through a series of pathetic excuses to avoid going too deep into the water, so in this scenario, where Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet, Jasper, Lapis, and Malachite are in the water, only Garnet knows of the minor detail that they would only have to go a few feet deeper to incapacitate her.  
The second fact is rather more important, as it is necessary to answer the question you were asking yourself when I interupted the story for this break; that is, does Jasper drown Garnet? The second fact is as follows:  
On average, a person can hold their breath underwater for about one to two minutes.  
This is, of course, assuming that they are a healthy adult, but that they have not undergone any specific training to improve lung capacity. The guiness world record is twenty-four minutes, but that was with the added advantages of breathing in pure oxygen beforehand and presumably years of training. I doubt any of our characters will make it that long. For context, two minutes is the point where, assuming they are holding their breath voluntarily, they will be forced to give up and stop. If they cannot give up - for example, if their head is being held underwater - then they could hold it for, on average, another minute. The three minute mark is the point where most people will lose consciousness, causing them to breathe involuntarily. If their environment has no oxygen whatsoever to breathe, then after five minutes of no breathing they will suffer permanent brain damage, and not long after that they will die.  
The third fact is a matter of life or death. The third fact is as follows:  
If there is a nearby water source that is at least two inches deep, then a baby who is left unsupervised for as little as twenty seconds can drown.

Their biggest mistake was their reaction time. Amethyst, despite the careful watch she had on the fight, was frozen. It was ten seconds before she finally managed to get her head together. It took two seconds to turn around and scream Pearl's name wildly as she pointed to the two fighting, and another four to swim over to them.  
Pearl was less graceful. Sixteen seconds after Jasper first grabbed Garnet's hair and forced her head into the water, Amethyst was there, trying to get her sister to let go. It was twenty-six seconds of splashing and struggling before Pearl could be there with them.   
It took eighteen seconds for Jasper to notice that of the two sets of arms trying to pull hers away from Garnet, only one seemed to be pulling. The other was half pulling on her, half leaning on her. It was another three seconds for her to get the idea.  
It took another second for her to realise she would need both of her arms free now, and two seconds for her to push Garnet's head deeper into the water before letting go of her hair. It took one second for Amethyst to take in a breath of air, and another for her to dive. Four seconds to find her in the water and grab her arm, eight seconds to pull her up.  
So, from the moment when Jasper forced her head into the water to the moment when she came up, gasping for air and leaning on Amethyst, her hair a mess and her sunglasses lost, one minute and twenty seconds passed. She made it.  
The worst was yet to pass.  
Garnet struggled to swim on her own without leaning on Amethyst, panting her gratitude to the younger girl. "You...You saved my life..."  
Then she looked over at Pearl and Jasper and almost fainted.  
First, she saw the terrified look on Pearl's face.  
Then she saw Pearl's arms. Arms that were being gripped tightly by large, dark-skinned hands.   
Finally, she saw the owner of said hands, swimming further and further out, Pearl trapped in her clutch.  
She couldn't see her face, but she didn't need to. Even if the muscular body type and the red tattoos didn't give it away, or the exact skin tone, it was obvious.  
Salt water washes out hair dye.  
Amethyst's wasn't that noticable, since she only dyed it with purple and white streaks, in a way that made it obvious that it was dyed. But now that the blonde dye everyone thought to be her natural colour had faded out, it was clear that Jasper had the exact same shade of dark brown hair as her younger sister.  
Garnet's onyx eyes stared at them for a second, then realised.   
"She knows..." she whispered, so softly that not even Amethyst could hear.   
It was then that Jasper let go of Pearl's arms, and she sunk.  
Garnet was first, swimming as fast as she possibly could, trying to get to Pearl in time. Amethyst swam after her, failing to notice Jasper swimming past in the opposite direction.  
A distraction, that was all they needed. If they heard Lapis screaming, they were too busy racing after Pearl to notice.   
It took five seconds for Garnet to get Pearl, and during that time Jasper had managed to swim back towards the shore. It took four seconds for Garnet to figure out exactly where Pearl was, one second to dive, and ten seconds to pull her up.  
Fifteen seconds, she was fine.   
Well, she would have been if she hadn't spent another five seconds panting and thanking Garnet, and another seven leaning on Garnet to get back to shore.  
They only let themselves fail to keep track of what Jasper was doing for twenty-two seconds.  
The first thing they noticed was that Lapis was screaming hysterically at Jasper.  
The second thing they noticed was that Jasper was grinning.  
The third thing they noticed was that Malachite was nowhere to be seen.  
"What is wrong with you?!" screamed Lapis, tears rolling down her face. "How could you do that?! She was yours!"  
"It was crying." said Jasper emotionlessly. "The noise got to me."  
"She was alive! She was alive and breathing and - and unique! And now she's not because of you!"  
And then, in her fury, she ran at Jasper.   
Garnet and Amehthyst were in the water in an instant. Amethyst grabbed Lapis's arms, pulling her back. Garnet was not so patient. In one swift move, she kicked the back of Jasper's head, and the taller girl fell face-first into the water. Garnet, however reluctantly, grabbed her brown hair and dragged her onto the sand, moving her head so she could breathe. She was out cold.  
"Let me at her!" screamed Lapis hysterically. "She killed my baby!"   
She struggled against Amethyst's hold, then went limp. Amethyst lowered her down. "I think she fainted."  
That was when Garnet got the video call.  
She quickly answered it. It was Steven, of course.   
"Garnet!" he said quickly. "Are the others okay?"  
"Mostly." she answered.  
"Good, because you have to get here! Peridot says we have to drill under the house to stop the bomb right now or we won't be able to!"  
Garnet sighed. "Steven, it's up to you. We have to take Lapis and Jasper to a hospital and sort things out. We won't make it back in time."  
He shook his head.  
"Please," she begged. "get Peridot and start drilling. We need you, Steven. We'll be fine. You can do this. We believe in you."  
"You got this, dude." said Amethyst. "You know the drill."  
"Be careful, Steven." advised Pearl. "Watch each other's backs."  
"And Steven," finished Garnet. "we love you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long. Most of the chapters in this are a mix of copy/pasting the episode's transcript from the SU wiki and editing it to be a narrative instead of a script and my own narration, but this chapter was 90% my own writing, so it took longer.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is now officially on hiatus for literally no reason!


End file.
